The Sandstone Conspiracy
by Kyle Lewis of OR
Summary: Beginning in the Season 5 time period of the show, an alien nation responsible for the experiments that gave Terra her powers, known as the Monarchy of Altania, send a team of agents to undo her petrification, but a number of setbacks occur for them all.
1. Prologue

My name is Isaac Johnson. I am a Tactical Officer of the Altan Intelligence Agency from the glorious planet Altania. There has been much conflict in recent times; the feral aliens known as Xorda are only just now defeated, and the cruel Gordanians remain a potential threat. However, there have been strange and disturbing events relating to a small, almost insignificant world near us- a world known by its inhabitants as Earth.

The first of many grave problems occurred nearly five of our years ago. Agents called 'Shades' were sent across Earth to determine if they were ready to handle contact with aliens- with us. I attempted to volunteer for this task, but Tactical Officer James Warren was chosen over me for the position. We were in the same squad during training, and I thought he was up for the task. I was very wrong.

Warren and his entire team turned traitor to the Monarchy of Altania. Not only that, but they used the technology and training _we_ gave them for self-serving purposes, working for the villain known as General Immortus. Worst of all, _our_ equipment was used in genetic experimentation on Earth _children!_ Fortunately, only two individuals were altered- now known to us as Terra and Geo, the children of the king of Markovia- and they destroyed the stolen material after others attempted to exploit whatever powers they developed.

Our nation wanted desperately to correct the error of our traitor, but most loyal Shades reported that Earth was not ready for a First Contact. Our first act of penance was to protect the royal family from any further harm, and it was no simple task- my traitorous comrade sent information about the experiments to the Gordanians, likely seeking still more wealth and power. Those monsters are infamous for genetic projects, and they badly wanted to capture this test's 'results' to reverse-engineer our technology. King Travis, the seventy-fourth ruler of the Monarchy, convinced our Consulate to allow increased raids on Gordanian territory, despite the fact that we were already in a bitter struggle with the Xorda. Though it cost us 1382 more men and three months of our time, we were able to destroy all data sent to them by Warren, and our mission was accomplished.

Last year, I received covert orders from King Travis himself: I was assigned to a scientific team whose purpose was discovering a cure capable of restoring petrified creatures to their natural state with no side effects. However, two months ago, a second set of operations were delivered to me, codenamed "Operation Sandstone." When I reviewed the new tasks, I found that I was expected to use the as-of-yet undiscovered cure on Princess Terra Markov, whose last location is not entirely known, and convince her- not force her- to travel to Altania. Furthermore, I am under strict orders to protect Terra and keep her unharmed- _under any circumstance_. I only hope that wherever she is, she is around others who may defend her, or all may be for nothing. The Shades report that Earth will now be accepting of alien contact. The time is right.

Of course, this is all classified information, and the public knows nothing of it. But this is the Altan Intelligence Agency, and I am Tactical Officer Isaac Johnson- secrets are our business.


	2. Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE

One of the scientists, a slightly-built man of about 16 years old with graying brown hair, held a vial of a hissing, slightly luminescent solution. "You see, Isaac, this antidote works on a simple but fascinating principle."

Tactical Officer Isaac, calmly leaning against one of the laboratory walls, nodded with slight disinterest. He had no desire to know how the remedy worked; only that it _did_ work.

"It utilizes the minute amount of deoxyribonucleic acid- DNA- left over in petrified objects- like this." He held what appeared to be a small stone sphere. "It took me eight months to figure out how to petrify things, mind you- respect this orange. If it hadn't been for the data stolen from the Gordanian archives, I still might be at square one. Anyway, the antidote reads the minute quantities of leftover DNA inside the stone, and then proceeds to reform all of the stone that has the integrated DNA according to the genetic code in it. Now, I know this seems rather confusing to you, so I will demonstrate." The scientist dropped the orange into a larger beaker of the steaming amethyst liquid. He waited for a few moments, then put on a rubber glove and pulled out a normal orange, wiping it off on a nearby washcloth. "Care for a bite, sir?"

Isaac shook his head. "No, I don't much care for chemical-soaked fruit, thank you. It looks a little suspect, I'm afraid."

The scientist grinned. "Don't worry; the formula is carefully designed to be completely non-toxic. I know because I ate one of these before you came."

Isaac reluctantly took the orange, peeled it, and then popped the inside into his mouth. It was tart, with a hint of sweetness. "Well, it's better than most oranges I've had. Good work, Jon."

Jon's grin widened. "Just doing my job, sir."

"Well, at least we've got that part taken care of, except for one thing. Your solution is in liquid form. We're not going to Earth to de-petrify an orange, we are going to resurrect a human girl. This operation's goal is to save her, not drown her."

"The cure is designed to evaporate at a relatively low temperature, sir- only 100° Fahrenheit. It will be a tad warm, but only like a summer day in California. It will be just as effective in its gaseous form."

"Excellent. Now we just need to find where she rests and extract her without being found out by the locals. Any information from Command?"

The scientist shook his head, as if to remember something. "Sir, I believe there was something the Senior Commander wanted to talk to you about, but I am not certain."

"Very well. I'll contact him now. Get enough of that antidote so we can revive her and still have a few liters in reserve." Isaac left the lab and reached into his black commando suit for his hologram communicator. He dialed in the code for the AIA Senior Commander, the head of the Altan Intelligence Agency.

An image of the man's face appeared on Isaac's comm. "Well, how do you do, Agent Johnson?"

"Very well, sir. My science team has formulated a cure to petrification, finally… Jon said there was something you wanted?"

"Ah, yes, that. In the last few weeks, one of our Shades has come back from an extended stay in the southwestern United States, most of which was in a place called Jump City. He reported unusual disturbances in the area, disturbances that could not have been caused by the default superheroes in the area, the Teen Titans."

"What kind of disturbances, sir?"

"It's a chain that leads practically across the world, give or take a few continents. Avalanches, earthquakes, mudslides, and most peculiarly, flying rocks. The chain stopped in Jump City, the last recorded disturbance. A diamond mine there was absolutely totaled; they had to blast it with dynamite to get back in."

"Sounds like Terra to me, sir."

"Unfortunately, we don't know the exact location in the city that Terra is currently at. We have a pretty good idea, though. She wasn't in the mine, as the miners found no trace of her. However, a short while later there was an impressive blaze of volcanic activity underneath a section of the city. If you found her anywhere, that'd be it."

"And how am I going to get there undetected, sir? Starships cause quite a fireball when they're entering atmosphere."

"As you know, in one day the king is going to be officially making First Contact with Earth, ending the veil of silence we have imposed over their world. We will be sending cargo transports of gift supplies to Earth and will also be sending Master Mariner Grayfire over there to chat with the Teen Titans, accompanied by several more senior officers. We will be sending you in at the same time as Grayfire and his team, but you'll need to be in a smaller ship on the opposite side of Earth for your initial insert. Grayfire knows nothing about it, so keep it on the down-low. We figure the Titans will pay more attention to his ship than to yours."

"It's logical. I'll be ready by tomorrow morning, sir."

"We'll have your crew ready by midnight- just in case. Get the antidote, a ship, and whatever else you feel you might need yourself. SC out. No, wait." He coughed. "I just thought of something. You know how we like to be well-informed on situations. A Shade on a recon mission caught this still photo somewhere just before the camera droid taking it was wiped out. …It was destroyed before we could get a satellite lock on its location." The Commander's face was replaced with a still photo of a blond girl in what seemed to be heavily damaged metal armor. His face returned. "If that is anything to go by, she'll be in need of new threads, if you get my drift. That should be a good way to earn early… well; I believe the Earth phrase is 'Cookie Points.' SC out." The Senior Commander's face disappeared from the holographic pad. Isaac, not even pausing to open the door in front of him, dialed the code for his supply sergeant.

The sergeant answered without a hologram, only sound. "Staff Sergeant Gisele reporting; what can I do you for, Isaac?"

"I've got a tall order for you, Mike."

"No order's too tall for me, sir. What do you need?"

"I need a Sieté-class medium cruiser fitted with a four-man landing craft, and I also need a level-2 containment vessel."

"Goodness, sir, do you really think she'll be that much trouble?"

"If she resisted that much, I'd just abort the mission. The orders say I have to. No, we need those things for other reasons."

"Oh, all right then. Anything else you should need?"

"As a matter of fact, there is." Isaac paused. "Do you know any tailors?"

The next morning came swiftly to Isaac. It seemed only seconds ago that he had risen, had breakfast, and put on his spectral Black Ops uniform. In fact, it was three hours ago, and he Isaac was now standing between the cruiser and his crew. There were four field agents, two pilots, three engineers, a gunner, and three scientists who had volunteered for the mission. Of the group, only an agent and a scientist would come with him to the planet's surface. He paced in front of them. "All right, men, I'll keep it short. We've all just been through a war, and now's not the time for speeches. You know what we need to do; let's do it."

The recruits saluted in reply, then almost silently filed on board. Isaac noticed Staff Sergeant Gisele approaching with a pair of packages. "I brought you a souvenir to pass on, Isaac."

"Did you get everything?"

"The goggles were a bit hard to have custom manufactured on such short notice, but I got Zantech to make a pair. The tricky part was getting them to not emblazon their logo on it. Nevertheless, they were made to the same standards and with the same materials as the originals. You will find them acceptable." Isaac wondered how he found out what the standards of the originals were, let alone how Zantech custom-made one in eighteen hours with no prior warning, gigantic supercorporation or not. "In addition, sir, this other box is a uniform of the local police down there. It _should_ keep civilians from asking too many questions. Good luck." The two exchanged crisp salutes and parted.


	3. Chapter Two

CHAPTER TWO

After an uneventful launch, Isaac sat in the bridge with the pilots and two of the engineers. The pilots were warming up the engines while both engineers checked telemetry and conversed with their counterpart in the engine room. Finally, one of the pilots glanced back at Isaac. "Where to, sir?"

Isaac glanced at the planetary charts in front of him. "Take us into geosynchronous orbit around western Asia, Earth."

"We're on our way there now, sir."

Isaac thanked the pilots, and then went back to the crew barracks, holding the Earth police was little for him to do now but to sit on a cot, in full disguise, and review the mission file. After he had thoroughly read it, he read it again. Once it had been reread, Isaac triple-checked it, and so on. Four hours later, the pilots had made his request so, and they were in a low orbit over what was roughly the opposite end of the world from the southwestern US. Isaac had noticed a small fleet of cargo ships nearby on the sensor display, in addition to a very large gunship whose telemetry identified it as the ASV_ Conquistador. _Any other officers must have been on the ship with the Master Mariner, because no other military craft- aside from Isaac's own transport- were within range. Thankfully, though the transport could see around planetary masses, the _Conquistador_ and its civilian cohorts could not, effectively making the cruiser invisible.

One of the pilots spun his chair around to face Isaac. "Well, chief, you look quite respectable in your Earther costume."

"I would have preferred my usual uniform, but I suppose this will do. I hope the Earth people like it as much as you do- and treat it like it was one of their own."

"Sir, I took Lord Raphael on a mission here once, and if I know Earth people like I think I do, you're in absolutely no danger of being found out. They're absolute morons."

Isaac couldn't hide a smirk at that quip. "So, pilot, how long are we waiting for the drop?"

"I would send you down now, sir, but we need confirmation from Command that their pod is disengaging. Then I send you three down at about the same time. It shouldn't be too long by now."

Indeed, Isaac didn't have to wait much before his comlink beeped. He answered it to again see the Senior Commander. "Isaac, Grayfire is about to leave for Jump City. You have to go now!"

Isaac ran towards the pod, the agent and scientist following him. The scientist was carrying a very large bottle of gaseous antidote, which he attached to a large cylindrical vessel that took the place of one of the landing craft's four seats. After he had attached this device, the pilot's voice came over the intercom. "Buckle up and get ready for re-entry, boys. T minus five seconds."

"Four…" They buckled their safety belts.

"Three…" They secured nearby objects.

"Two… one…" All three braced themselves.

"Launch!" There was a horrid jerk as the landing craft used a small ion engine to propel it into the atmosphere. The aftereffects were not pleasant either, as the atmosphere only made the shaking worse. The craft lost power momentarily, then sputtered back into life as a series of atmospheric engines kicked in. Staying just outside of Earth's sky, Isaac and his crew were able to carve a rapid past east, over the Pacific, dropping below atmosphere only when they spotted the Altan cargo fleet. After a short series of drops, the ship's repulsors charged as it prepared to screech to a halt, already approaching the five-thousand foot altitude mark. It slowed down on time and landed with a none-too-pleasant jolt in a cornfield. The three unbuckled themselves. The scientist checked the containment vessel and the antidote bottle to be certain that no harm had been done to them, while Isaac and the other agent took out a map of the area and their extraction tools. "A fine landing." The tactical agent checked a communications tool. "Excellent, only ten miles from our destination city." He consulted the cartographic image. Well, Agent Kevin, what do you make of this?"

Agent Kevin squinted at the map. "Well, sir, for one thing, you're holding the map upside down."

"Oh." Isaac flipped it over.

"I'd say we were about… here…" He pointed at a side road. "…and the center of the volcanic activity was here…" He pointed to an area towards the city center. "We've got quite a walk, either way. The best thing we can do is to start walking now." By now, the scientist had completed his check and had locked up the pod.

The scientist held a ring-shaped device a foot and a half in diameter. "You guys forgot the polish."

Kevin was hesitant. "Tell me… why did we need that again, Darius?"

"If you stick a moss- or dust-covered object into the antidote, only the clean parts are affected by it." Kevin grimaced. "Therefore, she has to be spotless when we begin the process."

"So, why don't we just do it right before we put her in?"

"We'll be doing it then too."

Isaac interrupted them. "We can't waste any more time. Let's start walking." The three looked very odd walking down a rural road. First, there was Isaac in a local police uniform, carrying a large stonecutting saw and a flashlight. Second, there was Kevin in a black long-sleeved shirt and carpenter's pants, with body armor on top. He was carrying the mobile repulsor, the fine-detail digging equipment, and a comlink to the main cruiser. The scientist carried the map, the polisher, and a chemical set. Not exactly the most inconspicuous of groups, but it would have to do. Despite the moderate distance between the team and their destination, there was no need for them to try to make the going easier- none of them had ever been to Earth, and it was quite a sight. After what seemed to only be a few minutes, they were at the spot that Kevin had recommended they go underground at. It looked to be nothing more than a normal cave. Kevin turned on a spotlight and shone it into the cave. The first twenty feet or so seemed to be a normal cave, but beyond that the walls were smooth and perfectly circular. "Any ideas on how that happened, boss?"

Isaac borrowed the comlink from the field agent. He used the voice-only setting for transmission security, and then called his tech person back on Altania. He had a small group of them, but only one knew enough about the area to give a proper answer. "Phoebe? Phoebe, this is Tactical Officer IJ-7743. We've found an unusual cave and would like your opinion on it before we proceed."

"Alrighty then. Use your cam function to send me a shot of it." Isaac took a picture of the lit cave with the comlink and transmitted it. "Hmmm…" Phoebe's unshakable brightness faltered for a second. "…what is your location, Isaac?"

"We are currently one half mile north and east of Jump City."

There was another brief pause. "Oh, I know what that is from! A while back, the Teen Titans had trouble with giant mechanical tunneling worms. They were already underground when the Titans spotted them. This must be where one of them first went under- or where it came up for a while. Those things made tunnels everywhere before they surfaced- it's basically a subterranean subway, but without lights, passengers, or-"

Isaac cut her off. "Understood, Specialist. Thanks for the scoop."

"That's what I'm here for, sir. If there's anything else about this area or the Teen Titans that you want to know, give me a call." The transmission ended.

"Well, men, we've got to find a route through these tunnels that gets us to the crux of the volcanism. Darius, what's your take?"

"Seven hundred thirty meters to the left, there is a tunnel that leads directly to the site."

"Is that confirmed?"

Darius held up a super-powerful ultrasound. "Technology doesn't lie." Isaac conceded this, and they began to follow the tunnel in the direction he gave.

After a fairly brief walk, Isaac and the others entered a large cavern. Kevin swung the light around slowly. After a few seconds, they all got a glimpse of what all of the events of the past two years had culminated to. A deep-gray statue was across the room from them. Isaac noted that the stature of the statue was small (at least, compared to himself) and very thin, wearing a form of armor that none of them could distinguish. Her arms were spread out to either side of her, as if greeting the newcomers. Her stone hair flowed down to about waist-length. All three of them looked down to see a plaque at the statue's feet. It said, "Terra: a Teen Titan, a true friend." All three men momentarily bowed their heads, respecting the magnitude of the disaster they were here to fix. After a ten second period of silence, Isaac looked up and saw something he had previously missed. Next to the plaque (he chided himself for having overlooked it so easily) was a wilted-looking bouquet of red roses in a cone of white paper, which he picked up and set aside. Finally, he hefted the stone saw and murmured, "Alright, princess, let's get you out of here before you're missed."

At this, the three moved into the process that they had trained for. Kevin set up the repulsor so it would keep Terra's body stable and not let it move. Isaac revved up the stone saw and cut a line a fraction of an inch below Terra's feet. The blade passed fully through the stone, but thanks to the repulsor, the statue did not budge. Next, Darius sprayed the feet and the extra rock with a chemical that stained the ordinary stone red. Kevin used a tiny oscillating metal rod to slowly chip away at the extra rock, being careful not to damage Terra. He then used a low-speed sander to finish off his work. Meanwhile, Darius held the circular device over Terra's head, like a halo, and let go. The machine hovered briefly, then began to descend over her, expanding as necessary to fit her body through. As it moved, tiny device drew away dust, moisture- anything that was not part of the petrified girl; once it had descended below her feet, the ring resumed its normal size and dropped to the ground with a clatter. With this step completed, Kevin flipped a few switches on the antigravity sled, noiselessly rotating the statue into a horizontal position. Darius and Kevin took positions at her head and feet.

Isaac looked over the site briefly, ensuring that their tracks had been properly covered. "Step one is complete. Proceeding to step two." With no further statement, or any verbal acknowledgement, he began to lead them all back out of the network of tunnels.

Three hours and almost fifteen miles later, they were back at the ship. If passersby were wary of them earlier, they were downright freaked now. Several of them stopped and stared at the three silently; a few quickly went back into their houses and got on their phones. One of them seemed to have more pluck than the rest, as he boldly walked in front of the Altans. "What are you doing with that statue?" He looked at Isaac with defiant eyes.

Isaac held up a hand, indicating silence to his comrades. "We were sent here by the city to move this under the authority of the governo- _mayor_. Now, please step aside, sir."

The man would not back down. "I don't think you're telling the truth. Just where did you get that from, anyway?"

"I am not allowed to divulge that information. Now, _please step aside, sir._"

The man pulled out a cell phone. "I'm going to call the station and find out." Before he could so much as dial one number, Isaac pulled out his pistol and pointed it at the man, intentionally leaving the safety on.

"I highly recommend you put that down and step aside, sir."

With a look of disbelief, the man froze in his tracks. "What are you going to do, shoot me? I haven't done anything!"

Isaac retained his stance, responding firmly. "Return to your home, sir." After the civilian bolted at a full sprint, Darius, Isaac, and Kevin hurried back to the pod. When they had arrived, Darius opened the door and the hatch to the containment vessel. "Just ease her in now, Isaac. Gently." Once Isaac had maneuvered Terra within Darius's reach, he positioned the statue exactly in the center of the capsule. "Alright, time for a second cleaning run."

Kevin grabbed the halo cleaner, while Isaac hesitated. "Darius, it would be better if we revived her while in orbit."

"And why would that be, sir?"

"She can control earth. If you woke up in a metal cylinder with strangers around you, what would you do?"

The apprentice scientist grinned. "I understand. Still, let's get her cleaned-" Kevin tapped him on the shoulder. "What is it?"

"Done, sir." Indeed, Terra was even more spotless than she had been before.

Isaac shut the hatch, strapped himself in, and set the roses on his lap. "Darius, activate the containment vessel, but not the antidote. Kevin, get us back to the cruiser."

Each echoing "Aye, captain," the two set about their tasks. Isaac leaned back, closed his eyes, and relished in the first step of a job well done.


	4. Chapter Three

CHAPTER THREE

Fifteen minutes later, they had docked with the cruiser again. Kevin and Darius went to hobnob briefly with the cruiser crew while Isaac remained in the landing craft, anxious to get on with his task. After some time of waiting for his colleagues, the agent began to pace and think aloud in front of the containment unit. "Well, Terra, now this all comes to completion. Now is when we find out if these two years were well-spent. I've learned about you and your friends' antics down on Earth. Your service has been largely admirable. The six of you repeatedly halted typical crooks, foiled super villains, and even killed a very key villain. Still, I must apologize for the treachery of Warren. It was his fault, and his alone, for the condition you are now in. Though, had he not betrayed us, you would never have fled your home, and never would have met the Teen Titans." He halted for a moment. "I… admire your courage, Terra. You took a bullet for a friend, and did what I could never-" Isaac turned and stared at the entry port, where, to his surprise, head scientist Jon was standing. "...When and how did you get here?"

"I've been standing here since 'Terra', and I got here via an escort vessel about two minutes ago. Those preliminary reports were so fascinating; I had to come see what they were about in person. While I was waiting, I ran a system scan of your makeshift container for Terra, and I found a very large magnetic disturbance emitting from her."

"That's understandable; the armor she appears to be wearing is metallic. Some of the metal's properties will have been retained."

"There's more. The magnetic disturbances run into her body in little lines- there's a whole network of them."

Instantly, Isaac's blood froze. "So you're saying the metal armor leached into her?"

Jon shook his head. "These lines are too precise for that. No, I think it is some sort of microwire that inserted itself a short time after the garb was put on."

"And she would want that because…?"

"Judging by the way these wires run through her nervous system and into a transmission receiver, she wouldn't. But her master would."

"Slade."

"Yes, the extraordinary though ultimately mortal Slade."

"So, Jon, can you fix it?"

"First, you're going to want to use that gas. I _highly_ recommend you blend it 80-20 with some knockout gas, though, if you don't want to have to use a stun gun."

"Done."

"Good. Once that's done, call me in to the containment unit. I would love to see this."

Ten minutes later, Isaac, Darius, Kevin, and a thrilled Jon were crammed into the pod.

Jon rapidly asked, "So, would you like the honors, Isaac, or can I?"

"Well, I don't know if I…"

Kevin interjected. "You've earned it, sir. Believe me. Just do it."

"That was not what I was going to say, but if you insist." Isaac turned on the evaporator and opened the valve. The four stood in front of the view port, where Terra's form was being rapidly obscured by a slightly off-purple mist.

Once the fog was total, Jon shut the valve. "Give it ten seconds and then open the door, Isaac."

Nine…

Eight…

Seven…

Six…

Five…

Four…

Three…

Two…

One…

With lightning speed, Isaac typed in the code for the container. _Operation Sandstone_. The door slid open, sending a cascade of purple gas fuming out. The four stepped back, happy to notice the pod's filtration fans sucking out the knockout gas (which they had forgotten about). They looked into the pod and saw a human Terra, no longer standing, but slumped against one wall, clad in a silvery armor and white cloth wrappings.

Jon was the first to speak. "Well, at least that worked." He stepped forward and looked her over with a willowy scanning device. "Female human, blond hair…" He coaxed open one eyelid. Allowing it to drop shut, he continued. "…blue eyes, short to medium height, slim build, sturdy pulse, brain functions normal but being monitored by unknown source, extensive but moderate injury indicating sonic, plasma, explosive, and hand-to-hand damage, but breathing is regular." He stepped back. "Well, I've got my work cut out for me." Jon turned around and saw that everyone was completely befuddled by his examination.

Kevin shut his jaw, which had been hanging open. "Aren't you just a research scientist?"

Jon smirked. "Three years as a doctor and three more years as a surgeon pay off sometimes. I've been a scientist since 663." He paused. "Is there a competent medical bay on this ship?"

Darius shook his head. "Much to my dismay, no."

Jon grunted. "That complicates things. We're going to have to pull off a small miracle." He pulled out a remote and dialed in several buttons. "I guess I'll have to summon my research vessel, _Nightingale_. Shouldn't be too long." Jon turned around, noticing that Terra was in a slightly different position than before. "Reconfigure the pod. Put in 15% knockout gas, 35% oxygen, and 50% nitrogen combination and relock the vessel. Open all valves to release at a steady rate. We need to keep her unconscious until I can fix that suit."

Isaac folded his arms while Darius and Kevin scampered about, carrying out the senior scientist's orders. "How long do we have to wait for your medical ship?"

"It has no crew, just a sentient computer, so… about…"

…Two hours later…

The quartet had reconfigured the landing craft, having stuffed four chairs and a table into the tiny vessel.

Isaac glanced at his cards. "…anyone got a deuce?" Kevin thrashed in the agony of defeat, dejectedly tossing his card onto a map of Altania, knocking over several plastic "troops".

Jon monotonously droned, "Here's the flop." He flipped over four cards, a king of spades, a three of diamonds, an ace of clubs, and a four of diamonds. "I bet two movement cubes." He put two dice into the middle of the table.

Darius replied, "Oh, yeah? Well, I utilize my cubes of lateral motion to contribute to your inclusive and total demolecularization!" Isaac and Kevin gave him baffled looks while Jon snickered. "I said, 'I'm rolling my dice so I can beat you.'" A light of dawning comprehension shone on them. Darius rolled a seven and slid a formation of troops into an unoccupied area of the world map. "PAWN ME!!!" Jon dejectedly set a chess pawn in the middle of the small army and added, "Don't you have to play a 'Meteor' card to do that? It's either that or a 'Joker' card."

Isaac cocked his head. "Darius, are you sure this is how we play the 'Tic Tac Toe'?"

Before he could reply, the intercom sounded. "Vessel identified as _Nightingale_ approaching. Johnson, your orders?"

He muttered, "…about time. Stand by for releasing the pod on my mark!" He shut the airlock. "…Mark!"

There was a clunk as the ship detached from the cruiser and glided toward Jon's ship. A few seconds later, a tractor beam sucked the smaller craft into the medical freighter. The airlock slid open to a crisp, well-lit white hallway. Jon opened the containment unit door, again dodged the plume of knockout gas, and, when it had faded, picked up Terra's limp form. "I need to get her to ER 1 stat. Hurry!" They ran after him and almost bowled him over when he stopped ten feet later to unlock a side door.

The room looked like any Altan emergency room Isaac had seen. Innumerable, illegible medical codes and blinking mechanisms filled the room. Jon placed Terra face-up on the polycarbonate table. He backed up and switched on a large scanner. The device went up, down, and around Terra, scanning at every perceivable angle. Finally, it spat out a holographic image. Indeed, there were countless white threads in the X-ray that snaked into her limbs and spinal column.

Kevin grimaced. "Eeeeww."

Darius was impressed. "You built a _Nanaimo_-class medical facility. Nice; I only know of a half a dozen other setups like this."

Characteristically, Isaac said nothing.

The operation continued as Jon continued to press buttons. Suddenly, a red warning light flashed. "_Warning. Mobile Magnetic Array Activated. Designated Target?"_

Jon replied, "Target nervous system, and focus on metallic anomalies. Draw anomalies out of system and out of body contact. Place a spray-plastic shield on the inside of the metal objects to prevent re-insertion."

"_Complying."_

Jon stepped back with a contented expression. "Now the fun begins."

The scanner moved aside as a large domelike machine took its place. The dome split apart into dozens of iron hexagons. These shapes arrayed themselves around Terra and promptly glowed red with heat, fighting Slade's accursed neural armor to extract the wires. Several minutes later, after the magnets had completely retracted the wire (no small task, as the wires were resisting the whole time), a pin-sized robotic arm quickly slid under the armor and sprayed one-way adhesive plastic onto it. All of the medical systems then rolled away.

Isaac muttered, "Just that simple?" and then asked, "What is the operation status?"

There was a brief pause as the computer checked. _"Operation Was Successful. Anomalies Have Been Removed And Sealed. However, Anomalies Will Break Seal In Approximately Five Standard Minutes."_

The top scientist bowed his head. "Then we have to do this the hard way. Hand me a screwdriver and a cold-flame welder." Kevin, surprised to find these nearby, complied. Jon approached the table and proceeded to bash the plate with the screwdriver until he finally pried a piece open and gained access to the circuitry inside. A burst of precision torch-fire incinerated the electronics, and Jon contentedly replaced the noticeably gouged armor piece.

"_Anomalies Have Ceased._" Jon wiped his forehead triumphantly as he tossed the screwdriver and welder into a corner.

"Well, then, now we get to deal with those injuries. Computer, begin cellular regeneration protocol."

"_Complying._" Once again, a machine slid forward, this one a large pill shape. The machine slid over the table, then sealed in the front and back. A strange hum emitted from the contraption.

While it was healing Terra, Jon turned around. "So, what have you guys heard about the political climate back home?"

Isaac thought for a moment. "Nothing really; they just found a little bit of a Xorda out in the Procyon system- wasn't functional or anything." They nodded thoughtfully. Having once temporarily conquered Altania, Xorda had been a big threat in the past as well as only recently, and any piece of their race that was found was regarded as a weapon of mass destruction.

Darius randomly changed the subject. "One time, I was working on this experiment, and my aide says, "Can I go make dihydrogen monoxide?" With the exception of yet another snigger from Jon, there was yet again dead silence. "What, are scientists the only ones who know chemistry? He asked to go make water- you know, go to the washroom?" Kevin chuckled. "Honestly, you Neanderthals, I expected you to have studied science enough to know _that_ was funny."

A few minutes later, the medical computer stated in its emotionless tone, "_Regeneration Complete._"

Jon waited until the machine had backed away before he gave Terra a fractional booster of sedative. "She'll be out for another ten minutes or so. I recommend you put her in whatever medical bay your ship has until she wakes up."

"Can we leave her out of the containment unit?"

Jon gave him a shocked look. "Heavens, yes, sir! Not even Slade deserves to be kept in that thing- well, maybe he does, but he's dead, so it doesn't matter. You get the point, though."

"You are coming, aren't you?"

Jon thought for a moment. "Yes, sir, I'll go. Before I forget, though… Catch!" Jon tossed a round gray object at Isaac. He caught it to see that it was an orange. Sort of.

"A petrified orange. Gee, thanks."

"When this mission is all over, restore that and eat it in good health. That's one of the rarest citruses on Altania; not an orange, but a _tangerine_. Now, what do you say about getting back to your ship before she wakes up, eh, sir?"


	5. Chapter Four

CHAPTER FOUR

Ten minutes later, Terra had been relocated back to the cruiser _Caesar_, where she now lay in the med-bay's bed instead of on a hard panel. Jon, Kevin, Isaac, and Darius anxiously hovered about. Finally, Terra yawned and stretched. She opened her eyes mid-stretch to see four men of varying age eying her restlessly. She gave a startled cry and darted behind a large console.

Isaac motioned for the others to stay put and approached Terra slowly, deciding to treat her like a commanding officer. "Miss Markov, it's alright. We're your friends."

"No, you're not! Who are you, and what have you done to me? What did you do to my real friends?"

He continued to approach. "Just come on out, and everything will be fine."

"Everything's NOT FINE!" Without warning, Terra leaped from the console, her eyes and hands glowing solid yellow. She tried to pull rock from the foundation, anything to throw at him, but the complete lack of response from the room quickly revealed that she wasn't underground anymore.

"Easy, Miss Markov. Just calm down and let me explain."

"Who are you, what did you do to me, and where are my friends?"

"Take a break and I'll tell you-" He had to dodge back as Terra launched a well-aimed flurry of punches at him. Isaac felt himself bump up against another bed. Terra then changed tactics and launched a kick. Unable to back up, unable to retaliate, and still in a punch-blocking position, Isaac was caught squarely in the chest by her foot, launching him over the bed. He skidded along the floor until firmly smacking back-first into the wall. Before Terra could launch her wrath against anyone else, Isaac steadily got back up, pressing on while his three comrades milled about. "If I was your true enemy, would I be trying to reason with you or would I be trying to attack you?" There was silence. Isaac had her there, and he had no intentions of letting this get any more physical. "If it will help, I will answer your question. I am native Altan Isaac James Johnson of the Altan Monarchy's Altan Intelligence Agency. You are aboard the Altan vessel ASV _Caesar_. We used Altan technology, Altan starcraft, and Altan chemicals to restore you. Your friends have not been harmed or hindered by my Altan men in the slightest. Is that satisfactory?"

The yellow glow around Terra vanished. "Who is this 'Altan' you mentioned about ten times?"

_There you go, Isaac, make her curious._ "Not who, Miss Markov, but what. Altania is a planet orbiting the Valorium system many light-years from Earth. We have been allied to Starfire's home planet Tamaran for thousands of your Earth years. We're not here to hurt you. We're here to help."

"How is it you plan to help? I preferred having a chance of beating Slade and going back to the Titans."

_What?!?_ "You mean… you don't remember? What _is_ the last thing you remember?"

Terra looked down and put a hand to her forehead as she struggled to recall the last events of her battle with Slade. "Slade was controlling me… forcing me to fight. I was holding this sharp rock over Beast Boy. All the other Titans were around me, telling me not to drop it, while Slade was ordering me to… and I… I… I couldn't have… oh, _Beast Boy…_"

Isaac quickly intervened before she incorrectly filled in the blanks. "You didn't kill him. You killed Slade."

She looked at him with wonder. "What? I did? How do you know all this?" She suddenly glared at him. "How do I know this isn't all just another of Slade's little games?"

"You won't, for now. All you can do is trust. My job- maybe even my life, in this era- depends on keeping you safe."

"That's not good enough. I've trusted lots of people who have let me down."

Isaac decided to just end it now. "Fine, Miss Markov, I promise you: we have solid information that the man known as Slade is no more. You could ask anyone on my planet, and they would tell you the same thing. You have to believe this."Before she could refuse his promise, Isaac summoned Darius, who brought the manila package and a complimentary white silk bow. "Allow me to demonstrate my good intentions. Please, open it."

"If this is a bomb, that's a pretty lame way to try to destroy me."

Isaac smirked. "It isn't."

She undid the bow and tore open the present. Inside was a black long-sleeved, short-cut shirt. It had a "T" inside a circle emblazoned in yellow on the chest. Next she took out a pair of heavy leather gloves, a pair of blue-tinted black goggles, a brown belt with built-on pockets, yellow-khaki shorts, and a pair of tan boots. It was a complete, bona fide replica of her costume before she had defected to Slade.

Terra looked up in amazement. "How did you…"

Isaac smiled contentedly. "Consider it a small repayment for your actions against an enemy of your world and of the Monarchy." He jerked a thumb towards the entry hatch. "Go hit the showers first and try out your outfit- we'll talk more later."

"But… I can't. This armor Slade put on me… it's grown into me, I can't take it off!"

"It's the third door on the right. Jon, go with her and explain everything from the extraction to now. _Nothing_ before." He watched Terra go (who was followed closely by a chatty Jon); then turned toward Darius and Kevin. Now that she had gone, the three needed exercise no restraint. They collided in a three-way bear hug, each giving happy yells. After a few seconds of this, they recollected their professionalism and stepped back embarrassedly from each other. Kevin was the first to break the tension. "Well, you did it, boss."

"No, Kevin, we all did it. Jon, you, Darius, me, Phoebe, and everyone on this ship did it. I propose a toast to what we have accomplished, and another toast to Master Mariner Grayfire for unconsciously giving us the opening to do so." The three raised pretend wineglasses. "Unfortunately, we still have to talk Terra into traveling to Altania to meet with the King. That will be hard; I can already tell that she misses the Teen Titans greatly."

Kevin waved a hand. "I think you won her over with her old outfit."

Darius, ever the voice of reason, disagreed. "If you called Phoebe, she'd tell you that it's going to take a lot more than restoration and new attire to win Terra's favor."

Isaac walked to the bridge and took out his comlink, which was vibrating and singing. He turned it on to see a hologram of the Senior Commander and King Travis together. "My King!" Isaac sharply saluted. "How are you doing, sirs?"

The S.C. responded. "Quite well, thank you. What is your mission status?"

Isaac walked through the open door and headed left toward the bridge. "Stage one has been a total success, sirs. We got in and out with minimal trouble, and Terra is currently taking a shower."

"Very good, very good indeed. Isaac, something has come up. How is Stage Two?"

"I haven't talked to her about it yet, sirs."

"We need you to do so ASAP. SC and King Travis out." They disappeared.

"Now, what could have come up, I wonder? It probably has to do with that situation we had with that man. Pilots! Please set our course toward Altania, but don't engage hyperdrive. Ion-wash engines only." He walked back to the windowed hall and waited for Terra's return, gazing at the green-and-blue orb in the distance.

Fifteen minutes later, Terra walked up alongside him and also looked out of the window. "Look, I don't know who you people are, so sorry if I don't trust you a whole lot right now. Thanks for getting that neural link out of me, but…" She looked him briefly, then looked out the window again. "…how did you all find so much out about me?"

"Well, Miss Mar-"

She shook her head. "Just call me Terra."

"All right, then it's Terra from now on. Look, about that question, I'm sorry, Terra, but I can't tell you that right now. I'll tell you this, though: I am glad that you are once again your normal self."

She smirked. "Believe me, so am I. Hey, can I get one of those showers? It was like a hot tub, sauna, and a massage table all in one!"

Isaac gave a rare chuckle. "Yes, hygiene is our third-best art, coming just behind technology and war. Terra," he said, the quiet laughter abruptly ending. "I have to ask you a difficult question."

"Can I ask some of my own?"

"After my question, you can ask as much as you want. How would you feel about an all-expenses-paid, three-day vacation to Altania?"

She backed away from the window and stared at him. "Why would I want to do that? I want to get back to Earth and the Teen Titans!"

Isaac sighed. "I thought you might say something along those lines. Right now, it is not in either of our best interests for you to return. It is not good for you because if we let you go, this will happen. People start asking how you were restored. That points arrows to us, as we just officially met your planet about six hours ago. This operation was a violation of our own international law. That is how it becomes a problem for us."

Her eyes narrowed. "So you're abducting me."

Isaac tore his gaze from the porthole and returned her own stare. "My king forbids it. If, by my deadline, you still wished to go to Earth, I would be under strict order to return you to Jump City posthaste."

"Then do it."

Isaac shook his head. "You do not understand. You don't know how much effort or how much planning went into this operation. You do not know how many hours we sacrificed trying to synthesize an antidote for you! Even _I_ don't entirely know why you are invited to Altania. King Travis himself requested it. That in itself is amazing."

"So what am I supposed to do, forsake my friends again? Not on your life!"

"I'm…" Isaac stopped and calmed himself down. "Notice that I am not asking you to stay. I am only asking you to go."

"I don't want to go, though; I want to catch up with my friends."

Isaac was just about to further their argument when another, _much_ larger ship pulled alongside them. Its comm came over the cruiser's speakers.

"Unidentified cruiser, this is Battle Nova _Black Entropy_. Where are you headed?"

Isaac hurried into the bridge and took command of the radio. "This is Tactical Officer Johnson of the AIA; we are currently en route toward Altania. To whom am I speaking?"

The Battle Nova faltered. "This is… Admiral Khanates. What is your pass code?"

"Mightiest tree."

Dead silence. Isaac waited for the week's Admiralty countersign, "Herring."

"_Black Entropy_, please respond."

Terra walked into the bridge. "Who are they, more friends of yours?"

"I hope so." _Dear Lord, please let it be one of ours._

"Oak."

_Mi Kires' cormis! It just had to be pirates._ "Gunner! Open fire! Pilots! Get us away from here, NOW!"

The ship lurched away from the bandit vessel as violet bolts of particle cannon energy began to shoot from the cruiser to the Nova, dealing slight damage. In return, the enemy ship fired its own, far more powerful lasers into the cruiser's engines, dealing considerable harm in one shot.

Isaac tapped the radio. "Engineering, what is our status?"

No response. That told Isaac all he needed to know.

The craft drew next to the crippled cruiser, ports opening up along the side of the vessel. From these ports protruded large titanium spikes. _I don't like the looks of this…_ "Men, they're bandits. Those are boarding harpoons. Pilots, keep our stern to them as best you can." Isaac wheeled about. "Terra, we need to get to the rear of the ship." Before they left, he gave a triple tap to the radio. At that signal, all of the crew would be assembling in the siege room. He stayed directly behind Terra, directing her toward the room. Every now and then, there was the startling _shhhnik_ of a harpoon embedding itself into the cruiser's outer hull.

They met the scientists and agents in the siege room. Isaac exchanged grim nods with Darius and Kevin. They all knew the drill. Keep Terra alive- at all costs.

Isaac gave a snort of hindsight. "It's too bad we didn't think about something like this happening earlier, we'd have revived you before we went back to the cruiser. There's absolutely nothing here that you can control." He blinked as the pirates blew up the entry hatch in the distance. Isaac looked at the other agents, and then drew his beloved Tiger Eye. The huge laser pistol had been at his side since he joined the AIA. Now, it was hopefully going to save all their lives. The other agents followed suit, drawing their own weapons. Suddenly, the ship lurched to the right and corrected its fault. The pilots were gone, then. To seal their fates, the pirate ship fired at the landing pod and destroyed it. Now it was just Isaac, Terra, some scientists, and some field agents. Not the best force to engage pirate marauders with, by far.

"Terra, I want you to stay behind me. Close your eyes and don't open them for anything. Do you understand me?"

"But…"

"_Do it_!" Having experienced Isaac's tenacity, Terra forlornly hunkered down behind him.

_Beep…_

A very faint beeping was emanating from the only door in the holdout compartment.

_Beep…_

Isaac knew what it was and wished he didn't.

_Beepbeepbeep!_ BOOM! The door flew off of its hinges and skidded into the center of the room. Before any of the agents could aim their weapons, two pirates with machine guns entered and began spraying the crowd with chest-high laser bolts. Not turning to see who was being hit, Isaac tapped his pistol's trigger twice, burning a hole in the head of each invader. He looked behind him briefly to spot Terra, still crouched down, but now with her hands over her head. The agent had to admit, she was following his instruction to the letter. Looking around the rest of the room, he could find only three faces still ready for a fight, and each of them looked severely shaken.

The second wave arrived, this time four laser machine-gun pirates and one unarmed. The machine-gunners took care of the survivors, but when they swung their weapons toward Isaac, the unarmed bandit saw Terra behind him and quickly stopped them. He advanced until his face was a foot from Isaac's aimed gun. "Put it down, son. It's not going to help you at all."

"Status quo, remember? As long as I've got a loaded gun, there's nothing you can do to me. I know you want us for something."

"That is true, that is true. Step aside and we shall take her." At this, Terra looked up with shock and alarm.

"Not a chance. You want her alive? You'll have to go through me. At this range, if you shoot me, you shoot her too. Laser rifles are notoriously inaccurate, even at point-blank range."

"That is why I ask you to put the gun down. Is death really _that_ important to _you_?"

"I hope you burn, pirate, and I hope I'm there to see it when you do."

The unarmed bandit, who was apparently their captain, laughed aloud. "My, aren't we fierce! I will ask you one more time: step aside and give the girl to me!" Isaac spat in his face. "Very well, then. I am forced to use drastic measures." He pulled out a dagger, his comrades doing the same. "These blades have no risk of collateral damage to the girl."

"Let's just get this over with, shall we?"

Before the captain could react, Isaac punched him in the nose, activated the safety on the Tiger Eye, and holstered it with one swift motion. His underlings also tried to stab Isaac, with similar success. Three of them were knocked out.

The enemy captain wiped the blood from his nose and glared at Isaac. "Death is too kind of a fate for you. You shall suffer the same doom as the girl!"

To Isaac's surprise, Terra cried out, "Isaac! Look out!" By the time he turned, the fourth henchman's fist was flying at his face. He warded off the blow, but it gave the captain the moment he needed. While the agent was distracted by the surprise attack, the captain grabbed a machine gun, held it by the barrel, and brought the stock crashing down on the back of Isaac's head. Isaac's vision immediately blacked out, his hearing also failing. The last thing he felt was his body falling to the hard metal floor.


	6. Chapter Five

CHAPTER FIVE

Isaac awoke in a cold, hard metal cell. The first thing he noticed was the lack of his 8-pocket belt, his bandolier of equal size, and the emptiness of his pants pockets. _Well, the pirates weren't complete imbeciles, then. Good… it's the incompetent ones you have to worry about._ Finally, he opened his eyes. There was not much to see, only dark grey steel walls on three sides and a row of vertical steel bars on the fourth. Isaac sat up and instantly winced; giving a barely audible groan, he gingerly felt the sizable lump on the back of his skull. While he was doing this, his mission objectives returned to his mind. "Terra? Terra, where are you?"

"I'm over here, in the cell next to you." Isaac breathed a sigh of relief to hear her voice. "Is there any real reason why there are so many people fighting over me? You, the pirates, Slade, the Titans…" She stopped speaking, though it sounded as though her list could have gone on, and an awkward silence set in. "They… blew up your ship, Isaac. And we're the only ones they took. I'm so sorry…"

Isaac shook his head, attempting to clear out some of the stars still intruding on the edges of his vision. Privately, he had figured on that fact, but hearing it from her was still a blow. "You're not to blame; we should never have used such a small team. I'm not sure why the pirates want you, and I'm not sure why the king wants you either. I'm sorry I can't be more useful." The momentary joy fading, he slumped against the side of his cell. "I… I'm sorry; I appear to have failed my mission."

"You haven't failed yet. Look, I don't know who all of you people are, but you seem quite resourceful. One of us will figure something out."

Isaac didn't hear her. "If only I had just fired…"

His brief lamentations were ended by the entrance of the pirate captain. Without his mask, the man was even more dominant and harsh, his sturdy, square chin, solid eyebrows, and small rectangular eyes making him look like a brick sculpture. Indeed, the captain looked as rough as he was.

"I see you're finally conscious, miscreant. We've been in hyperspace for two and a half hours."

Isaac stood up, his regret at the ruined mission abruptly vanishing. "You are a disgrace to our people! You will pay for killing my men!"

"Your men got it better off than you will, I assure you. Since you have proven to be such a nuisance, I have decided to let my employer deal with you as he sees fit. In fact, he seemed rather… anxious… to meet you, _Agent Johnson_."

"Who is your employer?"

The pirate captain smirked. "Seeing as it will not help you, I see no harm in unveiling that. Silence wishes to be graced with your presences. By the time he's through with you, you'd wish you had just let us kill you back on your ship." He turned, left the room, and shut the door behind him.

Isaac, the momentary anger having cleared most of his remaining mental fog, tried to think of a way out. Unfortunately, as long as those bars were in the way, there was nothing he could do.

"Well, Terra, is there anything you know about this Silence character that I don't?"

"I've never heard of him. …Just how long have I been petrified?"

"I'm fairly sure the number was about two… months…" _Petrified._ Jon's gift tangerine suddenly had a much better use than just restoring and eating it. "You can manipulate stone you can't directly see, right, Terra?"

"Of course, but there's nothing I can sense."

"Then you're not feeling in the right spot. Try to feel around for a granite sphere on the table. Use it to wear down your cell, if you can." There was no response, but soon Isaac saw the granite tangerine floating above the table. It broke apart into large chunks that hovered over toward Terra's cell. He heard the sound of grinding rock and hoped the stone was strong enough.

A few minutes later, he heard a loud clang and looked to see one of the bars fall to the ground. After a few seconds, a second one collapsed, and Terra was free. "Good job, Terra. You did it."

"Unfortunately, you're stuck." She showed him a handful of sparkly powder. "There's no way I can spring you out with dust."

"You don't have to. Look in my bandolier for a little vial of liquid." Terra tossed the dust into the air and retrieved the bottle.

"What is this, an energy drink?"

"I should be so lucky. No, it is a highly corrosive chemical. Here, hand it to me- don't get any on you, it's toxic!" Isaac gingerly took the container from Terra, detached the lid and the swab in it, and coated the top of the bars with the mixture. In seconds, the top inch of bar had dissolved into powdered rust. Isaac closed the bottle. "Let's test your learning powers. Any ideas as to what I am going to do next?"

Terra looked at the bars, Isaac, and the rest of the room. "I'm guessing you want one of the steel bars that I broke off?"

Isaac smiled. "You catch on quick. You'll be better than me in no time at all." He took the bar in his hand, wedged it between one of the rusted bars and a regular one, and bent the rusted bar outward. He did this to the other bar next. After doing this half a dozen times on each bar, Isaac was able to step outside and join Terra in the freedom outside the cells. He quickly replaced the corrosive vial in its pocket, then strapped on his belt and bandolier, also stopping to holster his weapon and refill his pants pockets with his assorted gadgets.

"Well, what do you plan on having us do now?"

Isaac looked carefully out of the window. "We're going to hijack the Nova."

Terra shook her head. "Even if there were asteroids around here, which there's not, there's no way we can fight off this many people. There's got to be at least a hundred crew on this ship!"

"Were you unconscious when they took you to your cell?"

Terra's brow furrowed. "No."  
"Did you see anyone other than those five?"

"No."

"Good, we probably won't see anyone else, then. Battle Novas are entirely automated; you could fly it with one man if you had to. That's why we call them the 'Rogue's Gunship'. Not that I'd expect you to know that."

"Oh. Well, that makes it all a lot simpler."

Suddenly the intercom crackled. "I must congratulate you for a fine escape from your cells, but don't think you'll be getting any farther than that!" There was a brief pause, followed by a slight jerk in the starcraft's flight. The captain, forgetting to turn off the intercom, exclaimed, "What's this! Who is that?"

"This is Master Mariner Grayfire of the Altan Admiralty." Isaac sighed; his cover was blown, but at least they survived it. "You are to be apprehended for the destruction of the cruiser _Caesar_ and the deaths of all twenty crew."

_Wait… _Isaac stopped short. _He thinks I'm dead? There's no way he could have known about Terra…oh, great, here we go again._

"We will never surrender to you, you young Troq!"

There was a moment of silence, probably because of the slander just hurled Grayfire's way. "Well, if you're not going to be civil about it, I won't be either." Another volley of weapons fire struck the pirates' Battle Nova. The deck lurched, Terra and Isaac both stumbling a step or two.

There was a ruckus in the cockpit. "The agent and the girl have brought this fate on us; let us leave them here for it!"

"I concur. Either it's them or all of us. Quickly, go to the escape pod!"

Isaac's eyes widened as he realized what the pirates intended to do. "Terra, quickly! Follow me!" Not waiting for a response, Isaac kicked open the door and ran down the hallway. They had to beat the pirates to the escape vessel- and fast.

There had only been one mission that Isaac had ever failed, and he had no intentions of failing another. His heart pounded in his head as he ran through the corridors, trying to remember the layout of Battle Nova star-slayers. _Let's see… right into this hallway, straight into that one, left into the crew quarters… Ah!_ Finally, with Terra following close behind, he turned left into the escape pod bay…

…and found a closed, sealed, and locked door. He heard the faint puff of the pod ejecting from the mortally wounded Nova. Isaac futilely pounded on the door, barely paying attention to the fact that the Nova's comm was still on.

"…Since you have chosen to abandon your cruiser, I see no further purpose in wasting my power firing on it. It will be allowed to crash into the Black Moon. Master Mariner Grayfire out."

"Oh, great." Isaac spun and looked down the hallway at the bridge."Terra, follow me! We need to get this ship back under control!"

"OK, what can I do to help?"

Isaac pulled every lever that had the word "brake" written on it, then grabbed a hold of one of the two control yokes, eyeing the scenery of the moon with alarm. "Grab the other one of these and pull back as hard as you can!" They worked together to try to lessen the force of the impact. It worked- partially. By the time the Battle Nova was skimming treetops, it was nearly level. Though it could have been a lot worse, the crash was inevitable, despite their valiant effort. Just before the ship impacted the ground, Isaac yelled, "Brace yourself!"

At the second the ship hit land, the bridge buckled. Damaged as the ship already was, its protective shields did nothing against the unforgiving rock of the moon. The polymer view screen shattered like glass just as Isaac was about to fly into it. Instead, he flew into an unyielding tree almost two hundred feet away. He felt something crack in his body and tumbled to the ground, noticing an immense pain in his left arm. Within a few moments, Isaac's brain remembered that he wasn't the only one on the ship. He gingerly turned around, looking at the ruined craft. _Well, I'll be…_ Terra had summoned up a dune of sand to keep her from suffering the same fate as Isaac. She slid down the dune and quickly ran to him.

"Isaac! Are you alright?"

Isaac tried to sit up, accidentally put weight on his bad arm, and immediately collapsed again. "I think I broke something." He gave a snort of irony. "In fact, I broke several somethings: the ship, my arm, probably a rib or two, and this forsaken mission."

Terra was suddenly rather cheery. "Oh, come on, it's not like this is the end of the world. We're in my territory now!" To stress her point, she levitated a nearby rock. "We can patch you up easily enough. I actually think this place is kind of nice. I've never been in a jungle until now. Do you have alien koalas?"

Isaac used the tree to prop himself in a sitting position. "Calm down, you're on an adrenaline rush. Do you know where we are?"

"A jungle on a moon."

"Not just any moon. This is Blackheart, the Black Moon of Altania. If there has ever been a more lethal, primordial place, I have yet to see it. No Caltan, human, or Tamaranian has set foot on it- and lived to tell the tale."

"So we just stay in the ship."

"That's a good plan, except for the part where that thing might cave in during the next storm."

"OK, so we build a shelter right next to it."

"That's the best plan I can think of." Isaac reached into his pocket with his right arm. "Oh, for the love of the Concord… my comm's gone!" He checked the rest of his pockets. "Hey, this gets better and better. My sidearm is AWOL." He sighed, closed his eyes, and then thought of something. "The Nova is still relatively intact right now. Could you try to get to the crew quarters? Bring back a sheet and a pole so I can set my arm."

"That should be simple enough. I'll be back in a minute." She hopped onto a rock and hovered into the cruiser's heightened bridge. Sure enough, in a minute she had returned with a white sheet and a metal dowel that was about a foot in length.

"Right, thanks. I'll splint my arm immediately." Thankful that he had been trained to do this with one arm, Isaac masterfully secured his arm and chest, obtaining Terra's help when needed. In no time at all, Isaac was back on his feet, mentally cursing his disability. Eventually, though, he put it behind himself and became focused on task once more.

"Rule number one: make a strong, enclosed shelter. If there is an open wall or ceiling, we'll end up in a critter's stomach. Rule number two: don't break a sweat. Generally, if you sweat, you pay for it come nightfall. Rule number three: have fire, food and water easily accessible. Rule four: never-" He halted as Terra shushed him.

"That's enough rules for now. Don't you think I learned from my years out on the road?"

"Point taken." Remembering her powers, a thought for a perfect shelter popped into Isaac's head. "…Can you pull out bedrock slabs in a given length, width, and height?"

Terra thought about it for half a second. "I should be able to easily enough, I've made just about every shape out of stone. What size are you thinking of?"

Isaac thought for a moment, imagining the cover in his head. "Four square slabs, one that can fit on top of those, and one to go in the middle of the four. That should make a good permanent shelter. Sorry to ask so much, but…!" He stopped and looked in surprise at Terra, who had already broken out four slabs and was currently working on the fifth. Isaac noted her concentration and kept silent.

"I see what you're thinking, Isaac. The four identical slabs make the walls, one goes inside as a dividing wall, and the last one makes the ceiling. Good thing this is solid rock. Sandstone doesn't work so well for this." She wiped her forehead with one glove and set about manipulating the slabs into their correct positions.

When Terra was done with the construction, Isaac got out a pocket-size cutting laser while she rested in the shade. Isaac cut a door-shaped hole in the side of the structure at a 90-degree angle from the prevailing wind. He then kicked down the fragment, figuring he'd have Terra scoot it into a better spot later. Isaac repeated the steps with the in-house wall, kicking down that piece as well. He then went outside and used the laser to cut down a modest number of palmlike leaves, which he laid down on the floor of the second room. Isaac was pleased to notice that Terra had used an extra foot or so of wall height as a foundation, making the walls a little over six feet high with reinforcement underground.

By now, Terra had apparently left for a time, as she returned with a pile of firewood. While she straightened out the wall fragments and began to make the fire, Isaac began to plot out how to finish their shelter. He got the essential supply list and, after Terra had started the fire, sent her back into the warship to get some supplies out of the crew quarters and galley. She returned several times, bringing out a total of seven gallons of water, ten frozen dinners, utensils, a light, and blankets.

An hour later, Isaac and Terra sat around the fire, trying to heat their dinners to an acceptable level. Isaac poked his meatloaf with a plastic fork, determining if it was still frozen solid or not. It was, even after being stuck directly in the flame for thirty seconds. "Were these things in a nitrogen bath or something? I'm beginning to wonder if it's meatloaf or ice."

Terra's Dijon chicken, in contrast, had cooked fairly well, if perhaps not evenly. "No, they were just in the freezer." She stopped and eyed the packages their two dinners had come from. "I'm curious. How did an alien society that really didn't exist to Earth until today get TV dinners?"

"Well, we can't really speak for the pirates, but probably they just sent a human down, bought the things in bulk, and then took it back to their ship. Why they would want to buy from Earth, I can't imagine. My planet has so many wonderful specialties- mostly based on Tamaranian or Earth foods, although we have numerous unique dishes."

"Could you tell me a few of them?"

Isaac used his frozen meatloaf to smother a spark on his cotton pants. "My favorite dish is a Vyran medley. It has strips of the chokos bird's meat- which I guess you could compare to a chicken- with carrots, corn, and a variety of legumes. That's all cooked in a pan with seasoned oils until it is sizzling hot. Then the cook tops it with his personal selection of spices and puts it in a big bowl of Altan rice."

"Kind of like an Asian stir-fry."

"Yes, except our seasonings and some of the vegetables are unique to our planet." He paused and tried to bite the meatloaf. It still was very hard, so he dropped it in the fire. "…What is this thing, a rock? …Anyways, our best dessert dish has no real name, but it consists of five or six different tropical fruits that are sliced and placed in a flower arrangement. Several of those flowers are then placed on a big dome of frozen khrynos-milk. The flowers also can be made of certain edible flowers that are dipped in a candy coating."

Terra began to lick her lips, then stopped mid-lick to look at the meatloaf Isaac had thrown into the fire. "Umm… Isaac? That wasn't meatloaf. That _was_ a rock."

"What?" Isaac took a closer look himself. Terra made it levitate slightly to prove her statement. "So then where'd my meatloaf go?" There was a loud grumble outside. Isaac put his finger to his lips and leaned over far enough to look out with one eye. He saw a long, black shadow that hastily retreated. Isaac ducked back inside, gave a sigh of relief, and then calmly began eating his vegetables. "Good, it's only a thmorae." Before Terra could ask, he added, "Thmorae are large reptiles that we used as cavalry before we developed tanks. They're carnivorous, but they don't like to eat anything bigger than a monkey. My meatloaf was smaller than a monkey, but thankfully we are not. It'll leave us alone."

"Thmorae are high on the food chain, aren't they?"

"Yes, but nevertheless our main concern is a creature known as a Sunaharti. They are massive, lionlike beasts with jet black fur and luminescent red eyes. If you see red eyes on this moon, you're in serious trouble." He put his empty dinner tray back in its box and tossed it outside. "No point in attracting stuff into our little home. If it's willing to tear that open, it can have it."

"Yeah, I'd much rather whatever else you people have on this planet ate _that_ and not _us_. At least we were able to make a fire and a good shelter."

"So am I, because Lord Raphael is nowhere near here to do it for us. Not that he'd be happy about doing it, mind you."

Terra gave him a mystified look. "Forgive me, but I've no idea what you're talking about."

"You don't know who _Raphael Torres_ is? Now that I think of it, of course you wouldn't. Well, then, I've got quite a tale to tell you." Isaac settled into a more comfortable position. "A little over five thousand Earth years ago, a boy named Raphael Torres was born into the nation of the Concord, one of the races that lives on our world. When he was 16 in your years, he and his sister, Myriad, somehow attained incredible powers -no one knows just how, though almost everything has been speculated. Raphael earned control over five elements- fire, water, wind, darkness, and your department, earth. Myriad got the ability to temporarily develop any power imaginable at will. Thing is, she disappeared for a long time, while Raphael earned glory and fame in the battlefield, helping to earn Altania's freedom from the tyrant Lord Fuller. After that, he continued to aid the nation through the years."

"So why do your people seem to idolize him? When I was on your ship, I overhead some of your crew talking about Raphael like he was a saint. Was he just a warrior, or is there more to the story?"

"That's mostly what they've done, but the Torres family is also known for their political and philanthropic achievements as well. Raphael has used huge quantities of his fortune to finance various charity organizations, and he was even a consul in Parliament for a few years, but he wasn't the sort to settle things with discussions and words- they kicked him out after he challenged a rival consul to a duel." Isaac chuckled softly. "Over the years, that family's won so much power and respect that no one wants to cross them, and between his abilities and limitless fortunes, Raphael could probably stage a one-man coup if he wanted to. Thankfully, they are on our side, so we have nothing to worry about. A few years ago, in the Second Great War, he and Myriad helped us halt an invasion of a very nasty alien armada. Raphael has intervened in our behalf on every war- except one that should never have been started in the first place." He did not offer to elaborate, and Terra did not press the question.

"So you never did tell me- why do your people know so much about me?"

"I'm sorry, Terra. I would be glad to tell you, but it's not my place. Perhaps you could ask the king, if you decide to go."

…

"Wow. I never knew imagined your people had celebrities like _that_. Back home, the only person I saw that had that much power was…" She shook her head. "He was evil, though, and had _no_ support behind him, except..." Terra faltered and stared into the fire.

Isaac thought about her reaction to her own words for a second. Who was the most powerful evil person that Terra had likely met? That didn't take much thought after all. "Is Slade the man you speak of?"

"Yes, I'm talking about Slade. I just…" She closed her eyes. "…wish things could have turned out differently."

Isaac practically leaped onto the fire. "Don't do that!" Startled, Terra half-jumped to her feet. "Never think about what _might_ have been or what _could_ have happened!" Isaac realized that he was becoming overzealous, took a few deep breaths, and then settled back into his spot. "Ah- I'm sorry that I…"

"Freaked out on me?" Terra sat down too. "That's okay, I guess. I know you're under a lot of tension right now, especially with your hurt arm."

"Well, I guess that might be it, a little bit. Look, the reason I pounced like that was because of something I did in the past. I disobeyed an order during one of my missions… and I lost something… very dear to me. I dwelt on that a _lot_. A lot more than I should have." Isaac paused, but then regained his composure and continued. "While I did that, my career, social, and personal lives all went down the tubes. It was General Cromwell who got me off of the "what might have been" subject and onto the "what is happening" and "what is going to happen" subjects."

"I take it Cromwell's another of your friends, then?"

"Yes. General- well, actually, he's Vice Admiral of OIE Operations now- Cromwell and I are friends. We chat every now and then, when our schedules allow."

"So who is this 'Master Mariner Grayfire' that intercepted the pirates?"

"I was wondering when you'd ask about him. Master Mariner Grayfire is the youngest Admiralty officer to hold such a rank in history. He's only five- fifteen in your years- but he's got a good naval-minded brain. _Conquistador_ is his personal ship- that one that blew us out of the air. It's one of the bigger gunships in the fleet, but from what I hear, it's slow. From what I've heard, Grayfire gets excited pretty easily, but he's a good Tamaranian. Heart's in the right place. Apparently, the record-setting applies to his brother, too- his sibling Bluefire holds a similar rank in the AIA, our intelligence services."

There was a brief moment of silence while Isaac took a swig from a water bottle and Terra took a moment to process everything she had been told.

Isaac changed the subject. "What about you? Where do you come from, and what are some things that you've…" He silenced himself as he remembered her early past. "…er, do you have any more questions?"

"Yes, actually, I do. Why is it that your world professes good relations and honor and all that, and then it always ends up in war and also breaks its own laws to do silly things?"

Isaac gave silent applause. "I see Jon told you a bit about our people before he left. That is one of the things that Altan philosophers have been trying to figure out for decades. It mostly stems from our belief of 'the ends justify the means', but we don't know why we always end up in war. It might have to do with other nations trying to prove themselves against our massive military, but it's a Xorda's guess as to the real reason."

Terra yawned, and Isaac quickly added, "I hope I didn't bore you to death with all of those details."

She smiled. "Not at all. If I do decide to go to Altania, I'll have to try a Vyran medley and one of those desserts."

"I know a great chef down in Modellsia…" He stopped and looked at her. "You're considering going now? What made you think about it?"

"Mostly the things you've been telling me. I've been traveling just about all my life- it couldn't hurt to venture to _one_ last place before I settle back down with the Titans. However, if you're going to talk me into it, I'm going to have to hear a lot more first. And of course, if I'm going to eat _your_ people's foods, you're going to have to come with me to a great diner I know. This for that, you know?"

"I would be honored to join you at this… diner. Regarding Altania, if you do go, you'll find that all I have told you- and all that I will, for that matter- is merely the tiniest tip of the iceberg, my friend." They both yawned. "Well, I guess it's time for us to turn in. You brought eight blankets; that's good, because we'll need all of them, even with the fire." They both spread out their blankets on opposite ends of the inner room. Isaac set his bandolier, equipment belt, and boots in a corner next to his head. He then rolled onto his back, tried to ignore his aching arm, and slowly drifted off to sleep.


	7. Chapter Six incomplete

CHAPTER SIX, except it isn't finished yet and needs some editing

Isaac awoke the next daybreak to the keen call of a chokos-rooster. He rolled over, the waking fog in his mind obscuring the fact that he had a broken arm. In about one second, his arm forcefully reminded him of it. Isaac sat up in a flash, choking back a cry of pain. _Just another day on the job_, he reminded himself. Isaac slowly weaseled his boots, bandolier, and belt back on, trying as best he could to beat the crinkles out of his clothes with his right arm. He stepped into the open of the jungle and looked around. Well, they had survived the night. That was a start. Now he just had to find where Terra had gotten off to. She couldn't be that far away, because he couldn't find any tracks of hers that led away from the camp. Isaac stepped forward and heard a squelch. _Well, that's unusual. There was no rain last night._ He looked down and wished he hadn't. _Oh, great. Thmorae leavings._

Isaac wheeled at the sound of a soft gallop. He braced himself for whatever was coming.A twenty-foot long green lizard resembling an iguana burst out of the trees. Well, there was the thmorae whose leftovers he had stepped in. Why was it so agitated, though? They were usually fairly docile…

"Yee-ha! These guys are more fun than a roller coaster and a mechanical bull combined! I've got to get one of these!"

_What the…?_ Isaac looked a little closer to see Terra firmly seated behind the thing's head, firmly holding on to a vine that made a harness around the thmorae's head. _My goodness, she's domesticating a Blackheart thmorae._ He ran after the indignant creature and its rider. "Terra? Terra!"

She turned her head around. "Oh, Isaac, you're up! Whoa, lizard." She pulled back on the reins, and the thmorae skidded to a halt. "You never told me these 'predators' were so easy to befriend." She detached the harness and jumped down. "Another five minutes and this one would have been all ours."

Isaac watched as the relieved thmorae gave a bellowing call and thundered off into the distance. "You do realize what would have happened if that thmorae hadn't gone back in this direction or if it had thrown you off."

"I was in control."

"Well, I guess that's all I can ask. Have you had breakfast?"

"No. Have you?"

"I just got up five minutes ago. What time is it? Oh, never mind." He checked his own watch. "0705 Standardized time. Good, I didn't sleep as long as I thought I did."

"So, now that you're fully awake, what should our plans be for today?"

"There's not much we can do for now. I'd just sit tight and wait a day or so before we start doing anything else."

After an altogether slow day involving more salvage work, a few minor encounters with the local fauna, and numerous failed attempts to create a comm unit, Isaac and Terra sat once again on either side of the crackling fire, their suppers finished. "A while before I joined the AIA, I was enrolled in the military's Falcon Academy. It's amazing there; it's many times the size of an Earth university, but it's for elementary through college-level students."

"So your country has sixth-graders toting lasers?"

"Oh, heavens, no! We don't teach them how to use weapons like that until their junior year. Anyway, when I was there, one time I was walking in the lunchroom with my lunch when I tripped. Well, there was this one youngster there- you couldn't really call him a bully, but he came pretty close- I'll bet you can imagine where my lunch landed."

"On the kid."

"On the kid! Thankfully, though, he thought someone else did it, so he threw a lump of mashed potatoes at the other student. In seconds, we had the biggest food fight in the history of Falcon Academy! Five hundred and twelve students, all throwing edibles at each other for half an hour! One of the teachers said that battle in the dining area was the biggest battle he'd seen- and this was in the middle of the Second Great War!" Isaac sighed. "Of course, we didn't realize until afterward what the consequences would be. We all were put on KP for the rest of the year, but it was worth it."

"What made you join the military, Isaac?"

Isaac stared into the fire, pensive. "I guess it was just that patriotic fervor that most of us had at the time. You know what that's like, I should believe- that burning desire to get out and do something. The Second Great War was one of the most nationalistic times we've had- particularly against a foe that had defeated us in the past, and a nonsentient one at that. Even after the Second War, Falcon Academy never had any shortage of new students- but then, it never has. Besides, the aliens at war with us, the Xorda, didn't exactly win any charisma awards. Blobs of purple acid with glowing red eyes and mouths- no other description is necessary." He raised his gaze to meet her eyes. "When did you first learn about your powers? It must have been quite an experience."

"Well…" Terra faltered, but decided to tell him anyway. "…I didn't exactly learn them. I was given them. My brother and I were experimented on to make us heroes and protectors of our country."

Isaac eyed her sharply. "Was this your own choice?"

"I… I don't remember any more. I was…" Terra trailed off, clearly reluctant to continue.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. I understand all too well that some memories are best left untouched."

"Let's talk about something else. Tell me more about what's happened on Earth while I was out. How are the Titans?"

"Very well, I must say. I haven't seen anything of them personally, but I heard a little bit from one of our agents. He ran a pizza place in Jump City for a while. Master Mariner Grayfire met directly with them, however, so I'll have to ask him, if he doesn't try to kill us like that again." Isaac wanted to change subjects to something less classified. "How would you like to trade some scary stories? Let's see who the better storyteller is."

Terra gave a grin. "OK, but consider yourself warned. I had to be doing _something_ while I was trekking about."

Isaac returned the gesture. "Let's see what you've got."

Two hours later, they had finally decided to call it a draw. However, the excitement and suspense of each other's stories had ensured that neither of them was ready to sleep yet.

"So that's not illegal on your world?"

"Well, not until Samuel Slicer did it. Once we heard of it, we outlawed it. …A Texan used chainsaws as weapons?" Isaac shuddered. "No one's ever thought of _that_ on our world. Thank goodness, too."

There was a brief moment of silence while they thought of the next subject to move to. Terra came up with one first. "What's the funniest screw-up you've ever made?"

Isaac smirked as one instantly popped up into his head. "One time, I had to do this big presentation for a bunch of highbrows in the AIA. I put in the data disc, and nothing happens. So I'm frantically trying to get it to work, pushing this, pushing that, and so finally I just give up and apologize to the scholars. One of them raises his hand and says, 'Operative Johnson, when are you planning on plugging in the power cord?' _I hadn't plugged the thing in!"_ Terra laughed loudly. "Well, that's bad enough right? Wrong! To make things worse, my boss was there. It was really embarrassing at the time, but at least they laughed at me instead of being mad. So, what's your most comical blunder?"

"Well, one time back when I was one of the Titans, I was riding a rock over a mountain when I lost my balance and fell off. I landed in some grass, but the rock flew into a formation of other rocks and knocked them all loose. So, can you guess what I did?"

Isaac couldn't think of anything funny, so he just said, "You stopped the rockslide?"

She smiled. "Nope. _I forgot about my powers_. I just ran down the hill like crazy!" Isaac grinned. "It wasn't until after the slide was over that I remembered that I could have just stopped it like…" She snapped her fingers. "…that!"

The Intelligence agent sighed. "It's good to be able to laugh again. I haven't felt so… relaxed… in years. Not even during that forced vacation to Coralshore. …but that's another story."

"That's because you're not obsessing about your work like you were before."

He glanced at her. "Who told you I'm work-obsessed?"

"Jon."

Isaac cocked his head, then nodded. "It figures. Yeah, he was right; I've been somewhat of a workaholic since the mission I failed." He paused. "I…"

"I understand. Hey, you know about Dr. Light, right?" She paused and smirked. "Of course you would, with the sort of spying your people seem to do. Anyway, one time, a few weeks before the big fiasco, he got the idea that he could rob Fort Knox and get away with it. So we all had to travel cross-country…" Isaac closed his eyes and listened to the story.


	8. Chapter Seven

CHAPTER SEVEN

Isaac felt an odd heat and a steady, dull grumble. He awoke slowly, quite aware of the fact that he was sleeping on a hard surface. But… there were leaves on the floor to pad against the ground. Weren't there? Only half awake, Isaac tried to get up but instead rolled over… and fell off of something onto a hard floor. His eyes snapped open, revealing a clean white room. A bulkhead door was across the room from where he lay, while the object he had fallen from was an equally clean white bed. Isaac sat up and then looked at his arm, surprised to see that the broken section of his arm was completely encased in a plaster-like substance. He tested it and found that he could move it with a minimum of pain. He then stood up and headed toward the bulkhead. Isaac had no clue where he was, or where Terra was, but he had every intention of finding out- and finding out _now._

He swung open the bulkhead to find himself face-to-face with what seemed to be a mechanical head. Isaac staggered backward as the mystery face remained still. As soon as Isaac regained his balance, he looked over the thing he had almost walked into. Most of the robot- for that was without a doubt what it was- was shrouded in a thick black cloak that seemed to turn into onyx flames, leaving only the head visible. And what a head- aside from the simple, oval shape, the head was constructed of darkened steel. The eyes were pure black, with red-and-yellow irises. The entire head was framed by two disproportionately large yellow eyebrows.

The robot spoke. "So, are you done gawking?"

"Who- or rather, _what_- are you? How did I get here?"

"You had it right the first time with the 'who'. I am the still of the night sky. I am the calm of the storm. I am the vacuum of space. I am Psylence." Isaac thought that was a highly unusual name (let alone an interesting self-introduction) but kept quiet. "You are aboard my ship, _Borealis_, which is currently about to enter the Solar System's gravity influence."

"I hate to seem ungrateful for getting us off of Blackheart, but we were trying to get to Altania."

The robot's cheery disposition vanished. "I have more important matters. In fact, there is something I found during my travels that I simply could not let you _not_ see. That's why I tracked you two down and sent you back here."

Isaac recalled that the bandits had been hired by someone named Psylence, and he figured not many others had that name. "Why did you send those pirates to capture us?"

Psylence seemed genuinely surprised. "Must have been a different Psylence. Why would I send pirates? …He told them to blame me, did he? Well, he'll be sure to hear about this when we meet next. So, I'm sure you must be simply _dying_ to know where your friend is." It gave a startlingly realistic laugh. "Forgive me; I just have a sense of humor about me. Just make a U-turn to the left once you step out of this room. If you'll excuse me, I need to take us out of hyperspace." The robed figure turned and glided down a hallway. Isaac watched him for a moment, then went to the room Terra was in and knocked.

"Come in." Isaac opened the door. He saw Terra sitting on the bed. "Oh, Isaac, it's you! I've had nothing but that awful tin can to talk to for hours!"

Isaac sat next to the bed. "I'm not really sure what's up with that guy. He appears to have hired those pirates, but worse yet, he's got the humor of a dead brick."

She grinned. "He's like a bad imitation of Beast Boy! BB's jokes were actually funny, but his are just…"

"Pathetic? Nevertheless, we must be cautious. This 'Psylence' _did_ take us without any warning onto his ship, he seems to be a would-be kidnapper, and apparently, there's something he wants to show us on Earth. Something so important, he tracked us to Blackheart."

"I wonder what this 'something' is. And what's with his cape?"

As if on cue, Psylence's voice echoed over the intercom. "Lady and gentleman, we are now preparing to land on the far outskirts of Jump City!" Terra and Isaac exchanged glances. "Please don't get off until the ship has come to a complete stop. Thank you for flying Borealis Air!"

As Isaac and Terra stood up, Isaac muttered, "This guy's nuts."

They stepped off of the ship and looked at it. Isaac identified the ship as a fairly common Altan _Sedge_-class scouting craft, but it had been heavily modified and plated with a strange, alien (yes, even to the Altans) circuitry. He was interrupted by the feel of a finger poking into his right shoulder. Isaac spun around to see a disembodied metal glove floating in front of him. The glove quickly retreated and hovered next to Psylence, who was shutting the ship's hatch. "Are you ready to go, or do you want to look at the Eighth Wonder of the Galaxy some more?"

Isaac finished observing Psylence's vessel. "What did you do to your ship?"

Psylence half-closed his electronic eyes and studied the tips of his metal fingers. "Oh, I just rebuilt it a little- you know, replaced the engines, tuned the weapons, rebuilt the hyperdrive, put on custom armor plates… just the bare essentials." The robot suddenly went into hysterics.

Isaac looked at Terra, then looked at the cackling robot. "You know, it wasn't that funny."

Psylence abruptly stopped laughing. "If you want to get rid of me, you're going to have to come to where I want to take you. Otherwise, you get to hear my next joke."

Terra frowned. "You told me those until I passed out from boredom."

Psylence ignored her. "OK, a rabbit, bishop, and a priest walk into a bar…"

Terra and Isaac both shouted, "Stop! We're coming!"

They had hardly walked for five minutes before Psylence stopped in front of a cave. _A very familiar cave._ Isaac gave a short exhale as he realized where they were going. Psylence gradually wheeled and gave him a frosty stare. He clearly was not going to allow them to weasel their way out of going in.

As Isaac had predicted, they ended up in the cavern where Slade had met his end, where Terra had temporarily met hers, and where the Titans had doubtlessly paid their respects many times. Psylence faced Terra. "Look familiar to you, by any chance?"

Terra shook her head. "Doesn't ring any bells."

"Then perhaps this will." One of Psylence's gloves flew from under his cloak and levitated against a metal square, pointing at it. Terra squinted to read it. Isaac already knew what it said, and he knew exactly what she was thinking when a small gasp echoed from where she was. Psylence continued. "On this very rock, you have been in slumber. This man led the efforts to revive you; that much is true. However, there is much that your 'knight in shining armor' has not told you, Terra. I will return soon, you two, and I expect some things to be cleared up when I come back." Before Isaac could protest, or even figure out how much this robot knew, or even his motives for this, Psylence glided into the shadows and disappeared. Isaac looked around, noticing that the cavern was lit by multiple small spotlights, a feature that had not been present when he and his team were last here.

Terra gave Isaac a confused stare. "Is what he said true? Is there something you're keeping from me? If there is, it's OK to tell me."

He chose his words carefully, knowing that he was treading in dangerous waters. "There are some things I have not told you, but they are not important. All you need to know- all anyone needs to know- is that the King wishes to have an audience with you."

Suddenly, a voice reverberated from the rocks. "All anyone needs to know? I think what _you_ need to know, my pawn, is that you have taken far too long in returning." Isaac and Terra both instinctively backed away from each other. "Yes, Isaac, you have served my designs well. You will be rewarded for returning my apprentice."

Isaac's blood ran cold. _It isn't possible… No human could have survived a lava bath…_ "Show yourself, impostor!"

"As you wish." The lighting dimmed greatly, and a silhouette stepped in front of the plaque, the only thing that was still illuminated. "But I assure you: I am no impostor." The lights came on in full, bathing the figure in light. Isaac almost wished the room had remained dark. The figure was a tall, well-built man in a black bodysuit with metal armor overlaying it. The man's entire head was covered in a mask. The left half of the mask was copper-colored and had one triangular eye visible, but the right half was featureless and jet black.

Slade had returned from the dead.

Terra stepped further from Isaac, giving panicked looks at both men. "No… no, it's not possible… Isaac, you promised me. You told me Slade was gone! You… lied to me too?"

"Terra, no one on my planet knew that Slade had somehow come back. …I would have told you…"

Slade saw his opportunity. "Terra, do you really expect to believe this liar? He has secretly been plotting your demise from the day you were restored."

"That's not true! I would never try to hurt Terra!"

"But you are hurting her this very instant." Angered by Slade's comments, Isaac ran toward him, preparing to launch a flying kick. He leaped into the air, but only brushed against the nimbler man. He suddenly noticed that he hadn't returned to the ground yet. He looked sideways to see Psylence, who was somehow using one of those floating metal gloves to make him hover.

"Now, now, we can't have you interrupting this little family reunion, now, can we?" Isaac was slammed none too lightly into the ground while the voice's owner came further into view.

Isaac got to his feet and exclaimed, "So this is your new apprentice, Slade? Psylence?" Secretly, he was happy; he had taken what seemed to be a small communications device from Slade's belt when he had tried to attack.

"You're not as smart as you claim to be, are you? No, Psylence is my new partner. He has a… taste for knowledge and domination, one with which I sympathize greatly." Slade stepped beside Psylence. "Terra, who was it who taught you to control your powers? Who was it that took you in when no one else would accept you?"

She reluctantly admitted, "You."

"You _owe_ me for what you did on that day, Terra. You never gave me what you owe. However, out of the goodness of my heart, I will give you a chance to save yourself from your faults. Terra, I will revoke all of your promises- on one condition."

She gave him a half-hating, half-hoping look. "And what would make you do that?"

Slade clucked his tongue. "Come now, child. You know I'm a reasonable man from your past dealings with me. I always keep my end of the deal as long as you keep yours."

Isaac, realizing that physical combat was not possible with a splinted arm and Psylence hovering nearby, went for the verbal approach. "Whatever went on between her and you is long over, Slade. Just give up already."

"You've studied the way I do business, Altan. You and I have our… differences, but we also have some key similarities. For one, we never… give… up." Slade then ignored Isaac's spluttered responses and went back to tempting Terra. "My child, this man standing beside you- he does not care for you like I do."

Isaac interrupted, "Untrue! Psychopathic dictators like you only care about themselves!"

"Peace, Johnson. At least I care for her ultimate well-being. You… you don't care for her as a person. You only care for her because she is your objective."

Her eyes flicked toward Isaac. "…Is that true?"

Isaac did not look at her, but continued to glare at Slade. "You won't divert attention from yourself by such petty means as that, Slade."

The masked man finally played his trump card. "Terra, I promise that I will leave this city and never be seen again by you or your miserable friends. All you have to do is to eliminate the rogue standing beside you." Isaac and Terra gave him shocked looks, then turned toward each other.

Slade kept pushing. "Child, who took you in when you ran away from all sense of security? You know from that experience that I do what I say. Kill him!"

Isaac felt that he had to talk fast. "Terra, I have had nothing but your safety in my mind! Remember who was standing between you and the pirates! Remember who got us out of the cells! Consider-"

Her eyes and hands glowed yellow. "Stop it! Both of you!" Before either of them could react, stone hands reached from the floor and grabbed Isaac and Slade. Psylence flitted about the outer walls of the chamber, deciding whether or not to intervene. "You _never_ thought of anything but yourself, Slade. We both know that. Isaac, you helped me, true, but so did he."

Slade chuckled. "You see? You're becoming my apprentice again already." He looked at Psylence, who was silently inquiring if he needed aid. "No, Psylence, not yet. She is almost ours."

"I don't want to hear it from you! You manipulated me! You used me when I was weak!" Terra tightened the grip of the fist holding Slade, unconsciously doing the same to Isaac, who had decided to stay out of the conversation.

"I gave you what you wanted, Terra. You asked for control, and I taught you all you needed to know. Is it my fault that you neglected to ask exactly what my terms were? This is a web of your own design. You destroyed your own life. I merely am a giver of control; I have upheld my part of the deal. You, on the other hand, refuse to do the same. Do you really think the Titans would welcome you back now? After what you did? There is no one in this galaxy who cares for your existence. You are alone." Without warning, the stone hand around Isaac released its grip while the one holding Slade flung the villain down the room. Slade recovered easily and decided to play with Terra's emotions to induce an error, not really that concerned if she attacked or not. "Terra, you never really left me. You may have escaped my neural armor, but you and I both know that we are connected much deeper than that."

Isaac walked next to Terra and faced Slade. "Look, Slade, she made a mistake in the past. It's over now. There's nothing you can do or say that will make her join you again."

"You underestimate me, Johnson. Do you really think I would have gone to all this trouble just to hear myself talk? If Terra will not return to me and fulfill her promise by her own will…"

Psylence gave an unasked-for sentence finisher. "…then she'll look real nice hanging over the fireplace."

The glow around Terra's hands increased. "All right, that's it! You asked for it!"

Psylence narrowly dodged a column of stone, Slade doing the same. "Slade! She's not going easily."

"That's because you provoked her, imbecile!" Slade dodged yet another large boulder only to be assailed by Isaac. Unfortunately, the villain was even more experienced than the agent and deftly flipped him over his shoulder. Psylence, meanwhile, was engaged in a strange game of tennis with Terra, each trying to catapult the same rock back at each other. Isaac recovered and changed his strategy, flanking Slade and trying to strike Psylence from behind.

"Did they not teach you that it is dishonorable to strike an opponent in the back?" Slade cut off Isaac's attack path and tackled him, both landing roughly in the dirt.

"Peh!" Isaac pushed Slade off and rolled away from a retaliatory kick. "What do you call that? That wasn't particularly chivalrous." There was a clang of stone on metal, and Psylence flew over their heads before bouncing off of a wall. Slade immediately went on the defensive, parrying and evading a storm of rocks. Isaac looked over at Terra, who was flinging stone at Slade with one hand while doing something with the other. Creating an escape route, perhaps? Seeming to notice that Terra's barrage was herding him in a specific direction, Slade darted toward the heroes in a lightning-fast strike. However, he did not notice the trap Terra had set for him. With a yell of effort, Terra brought down a large slab of the roof on top of Slade. But there was no crash from the slab hitting the floor. Terra's eyes widened as she realized what had happened. "That can't be… you're…"

Iron hands glowing bright lavender, Psylence gloated over his assumed supremacy. "More powerful than you? But of course! You can control earth, but I can move anything that has molecules. How do you think these hands float about? It's called _artificial psionic powers_. I'm one-of-a-kind, baby." One of his gauntlets beckoned to her while Slade retreated behind him. "Bring it." Psylence suddenly attempted to wrest control of the ceiling chunk from Terra, who responded by fortifying her own grip. Slade and Isaac merely gawked while Terra and Psylence each tried to push the floating block over the other. For a time, it seemed like a stalemate.

Unfortunately, Psylence's mysterious abilities were, if nothing else, more long-lasting than Terra's, as the rock began to steadily glide toward Isaac and Terra.

Isaac looked at the approaching mass of bedrock. "Oh, boy."

Slade also saw it. "Psylence, stop!" The command was so unlike Slade that Psylence actually stopped for a moment to stare at him in disbelief. "Why? This is what you want, is it not?" He continued to levitate the rock.

"Psylence, I command you! Stand down!"

"I've almost got them!" Psylence looked at the boulder. Indeed, just a few more feet and the edge would be over Isaac and Terra.

What happened next was just as unexpected as Slade's words. Slade stepped beside Psylence. By the time Psylence had turned around, Slade had slapped a small metal device onto him, stepping back just as quickly; the gadget detonated, sending crackling blue electricity over Psylence. Without the slightest sound, Psylence vanished into his cloak. Before Isaac could see any more, the roof fell down. Terra yanked him further back from the slab as it completely blocked the passageway.

"You have won this round, Terra." Slade's voice was as clear as if he was standing next to them. "I assure you, though- you may have won this battle, but it will cost you something very dear to you." Then there was silence- and total darkness, as the blocked tunnel had no light source.

After spending a moment to catch his breath, Isaac turned toward where he thought Terra was. "So, are you going to get us out of here?" Isaac saw a faint glow of yellow light which quickly turned into a beam. The beam carved into the earth, brightly illuminating them both. The AIA agent walked behind Terra as she made a way out.

After a few minutes, Terra's digging opened up a hole above ground. While Terra climbed out, Isaac squinted against the bright sunlight. Once his eyes adjusted, Isaac saw her waiting for him. She offered a hand. As he took it, she remarked, "You see? I'm still good for something." They both surveyed where they were. It was fairly easy to figure out that they were in a farm- there was corn everywhere. "Was what they were saying true? Is there something you've been keeping from me?"

Isaac frowned. "We never told you the details of what we learned before we saved you. I was going to, once we got to Altania. I'm sorry about Slade- I didn't know that-"

"It's OK, Isaac, really." Isaac could tell from the tone of her voice they would be talking about this more later. "Well, I got us up to ground level- if I'm going to Altania, you're going to have to take care of the rest."

Isaac brushed himself off. "That's actually pretty easy- I got this off of Slade when I attacked him." He showed her a communications device. "It shouldn't be too hard for me to hotwire it and call home." He slipped off the cover, grabbed a few tools out of his bandolier, and in no time at all had jury-rigged the transmitter to operate on Altan hologram channels. He dialed in the code for the Admiralty.

An officer's fuzzy, static-ridden image appeared over the machine. "Admiralty Central Command. How may I be of assistance?"

"Listen to me, and listen carefully. This is AIA Tactical Officer Isaac Johnson. I am in Jump City of Earth and need immediate transport for two to Altania. It is a priority three mission." He saw the incredulous look on the officer's face. "Check with the Senior Commander. He'll confirm me. Authorization code Tonga-Mianta Seven."

"One moment." The officer's face disappeared for about twenty seconds, then returned. "Sorry for the delay, Johnson. I'll patch you through to the nearest starship." The man's face was replaced with that of a blue-eyed, blond teenage boy in a surprisingly heavily-decorated slate uniform. "Master Mariner Grayfire of the _ASV __Conquistador_ here. So, you survived the loss of the _Caesar_? I'm impressed, sir."

"Sir, with all due respect, please be impressed after you pick us up."

Grayfire's hologram gave an understanding nod. "Don't call me sir, please. I may have a higher rank, but you've got seniority everywhere else. I'm actually already in orbit over Earth- where around Jump City are you?"

Isaac looked at Terra, who shrugged. He looked back at Grayfire. "We're in the middle of a cornfield- no idea which direction."

"That's good enough. I've got your communicator frequency on our tracking system, and an empty transport is already in the air. We'll be there in thirty seconds. Grayfire out."

Isaac glanced at Terra. "Well, it seems you'll be able to meet Grayfire after all. I hope you like him- from what I've seen of him, he's amiable enough."

"Well, right now, I'm just glad to be getting away from Slade."

Isaac looked in the sky. The transport must have been redlining, because it was arriving even faster than the boy had predicted. "Me too, Terra. Me too."


	9. Chapter Eight

CHAPTER EIGHT

"Passengers, you are free to board ASV _Conquistador_." The transport's door opened into a spacious corridor. The pilot glanced back at them. "Grayfire is waiting for you on the observation deck- it's just to the right." Isaac thanked the pilot, then walked into the corridor, Terra just behind him. After a minute's walk, they approached the door into the observation deck. Isaac flicked the control, and the door opened to show Grayfire and a half-blond, half-grey-haired girl looking out the deck's viewscreen, which encompassed almost the entire room. They turned around as Isaac entered. From their present angle, neither of them could see Terra.

Grayfire surveyed Isaac. "Mr. Johnson, it's good to see you in one piece! I'd like to introduce you to my…" He faltered and blushed slightly. "…uh, my girlfriend and garrison commander, Commander Moonfire."

Isaac gave a friendly nod. "Hi."

She replied with a small nod of her own. "Pleased to meet you." Without even thinking, Isaac began to compare her to other people he'd seen. His first thought was Princess Starfire with grey eyes. Her attire was different, though- she had the thigh-length olive-green jacket, slacks, and tan boots of a mid-level army officer; the ship's garrison commander, indeed. Isaac shook his head as he realized his AIA training was not exactly very polite in this situation. "Er- excuse me."

Moonfire tilted her head slightly. "The pilot had said there were two of you. Where is this other person?"

"Oh, sorry." Isaac had been blocking the doorway. He stepped aside, and in walked Terra. Grayfire froze mid-breath, gawking at the newcomer.

"No way…"

Terra glanced at Isaac. "Just exactly how many people on your planet know about me?!?"

He took a moment to reply. "Well… a few more than I thought, apparently." Terra's glance elevated into a full-blown stare of bewilderment.

Though he looked extremely tense for some reason, Grayfire was the first to speak again. "Well, Terra, I haven't seen you in nearly ten months! You look like you haven't aged a day."

"Umm… I was a statue for several months. And do I know you?"

After a brief pause, the officer smiled broadly. "How could you forget? You knew me as Morris. Cody Morris."

A look of recognition flooded her face. "That's right! You were the guy who cracked the tower's systems, got to know me, almost went out with me, and then vanished as soon as we found out you were Tamaranian. You know, you never _did_ call."

Grayfire laughed a little nervously, his smile beginning to look strained. "First Contact rules and all that. Besides, I think Beast Boy would've punted me to Gotham if I did. You wouldn't believe the explaining I'm going to have to do…"

Terra decided it was time to finally ask her question. "Isaac said you visited the Teen Titans a few days ago- how are they all doing?"

His smile drifted away, but only just. "Didn't you just come from there?"

"Like I said, I got turned into a statue fighting Slade some months back. Kinda put a damper on things until your agent here cured me."

"Oh; the others never said anything about _that _when I was there. I just figured you were on a mission." The young naval officer nodded slowly. "They're all quite well in general- since your petrification, they've battled the villain Brother Blood, stopped the apocalypse, and are presently battling the organization known as the Brotherhood of Evil. All's going well so far, but they're not actually home yet- the Titans East are house-sitting, as I discovered."

"That's nice." Isaac could tell she was particularly struggling with whatever she was about to ask. "…And…Beast Boy?"

Grayfire's smile gradually faded. "I've seen him better. I don't think he really ever _completely_ recovered from losing you." Eager to change subjects to a less depressing subject, Grayfire looked at a star chart. "Well, if you're going to the capital and it's as important as my official orders read, I'll have us break in this bird's warp core. We've only had _Conquistador _for a month."

Isaac gave him a dumb look. "A what?"

Moonfire described the device. "This ship has a prototype warp core. It's a slimy green parasite that saps the zero-point energy from the main gravitic turbines. In return, it extends tendrils throughout the ship's wiring. When we energize certain wires, the creature drops us out of reality as we know it and into a warp field via a semi-stable kronotonic reaction between chromium contained inside the creature and a mixture of mithril and psinicum dust. The ship then sort of becomes omnipresent, existing in every location in every dimension that there is. When we stop putting power into the wires, we fall out of warp into a certain location in the universes. The location can vary galaxywide by much less than a yottosecond. It is extraordinarily hard to warp around properly, so the ship's computer manages all the fine details. But then, that's all theory- this is a _prototype_ warp core, the first of its kind."

Isaac was silent for a moment as her explanation sank in. Ultimately, it went in one ear and out the other. "OK, I have no clue what you just said, but we'll try that."

Grayfire looked at the two visitors. "Well, if you're up for it, then so am I. Let's walk next door to the bridge." He moved next to a thick blast door and opened it, revealing a large command deck. Grayfire beckoned over a tall red-haired man. "Commander O'Brien, we need to warp to Altania. Try to get us as close to Modellsia as you can."

The man replied with a British accent. "It's a sure thing, Cap'n. We'll warp out as soon as we finish up with Titans Tower." He indicated the main screen, where Robin's East-Coast doppelganger Speedy was holding a conversation with the chief navigator.

It seemed that whatever they were talking about was going nowhere. "Look, I really can't speak for the Titans, so call back in a week or two, OK?"

"Very well, Master Speedy. If you ever do need assistance, though…"

The archer filled in where the navigator trailed off. "…we'll call. However, this is really something you should take up with the President, not us." Speedy's gaze shifted toward the newcomers. Before he could spot her, Isaac shoved Terra back into the observation room and shut the door behind her. "It looks like you've got company, so I won't bother you anymore. Later." Speedy's face disappeared, and Isaac let Terra return from the other room.

O'Brien shook his head. "That was a mite too much of a close shave, mates. Right then! Helmsman, set coordinates as close to Modellsia as you safely can. Engage the warp drive when coordinates are set." He set his jaw as the helmsman complied. "Well, Cap'n, now we see if this thing has any defects or not." Before Isaac could suggest using the safer hyperdrive, the helmsman barked, "Warp core engaged!"

For the first few moments, nothing happened. Then Isaac looked at the ship's hull. There was an eerie green glow snaking through the power conduits. The glow began to spread from there like a virus, making everything it touched glow.

"Steady, men," Grayfire said, more to himself than anyone else. By now, the glow had enveloped some of the crew. They seemed fine- that was a relief to Isaac. A few moments later, the luminescence was covering everything Isaac could see. He glanced at Terra- and just like that, the glow was gone.

O'Brien's eyes flickered toward the star charts. "Warp successful, Cap'n. We are in orbit over Modellsia and are now receiving transmission from Spaceport Mauritius."

Another Admiralty officer appeared on the holographic screen. "Welcome back, _ASV __Conquistador._ King Travis has been expecting you. We'll give you coordinates for your landing vessel." His face was replaced with a holographic globe of Altania. The planet was very large, at least ten times the surface area of Earth. Thick jungles, massive oceans, and continent-sized plains covered most of the planet, but there were several colossal cities dotted throughout the forest. A red dot blinked in the middle of the megalopolis capital, Modellsia.

Grayfire half-turned toward his visitors. "O'Brien will lead you back to the landing craft. We'll probably meet you back at Earth, so the best of luck to you 'til then."

Terra thanked him, then headed back with Isaac and the first mate.

Once they had left the bridge, Grayfire looked at his companion. "I know, it's one other thing I forgot to tell you." Moonfire gazed after the girl, and Grayfire tensed- a rare thing for him. "You've got to know that nothing ever really went on between-"

"That was before us, so it wouldn't matter if it did." A smile tugged at one corner of her mouth. "Though I must admit, you handled that encounter so poorly that I know nothing too serious happened."

"Right, right, you took the diplomacy courses. If anyone could tell, it'd be you, Moonfire. I'm a little worried about them, though; Isaac didn't look too happy about something."

"I'd say between his injuries, the detours in his mission, and the loss of his crew, Isaac's perfectionism has taken a severe blow. Terra doesn't seem to entirely trust him, either." Hearing the helmsman call him in the adjacent room, Grayfire started to head in that direction, but halted as Moonfire gently put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about it. Our job is done. Let's just finish our debrief, check in for shore leave, and go find a nice quiet place to relax for a while."

"That… that sounds wonderful. Until then…" His trademark grin returned. "…would a nice candlelight dinner in my quarters tonight suffice?"

She smiled a little. "It would." They both automatically assumed their roles again, and she snapped off a salute. "Master Mariner."

He returned it, expression once again leveling out. "Dismissed, Commander." After a second longer, he turned and walked back into the bridge.


	10. Chapter Nine

CHAPTER NINE

Castle Modellsia was a massive, ancient structure, towering above the nearby modern buildings, but by no means were those buildings short either. Terra and Isaac had just spent the past fifty minutes getting to the washrooms, freshening up, and stopping by the medical department to have them fuse Isaac's broken arm back together. They then journeyed upward to the core of the castle, the throne room. To pass the time, Isaac had been telling her more stories.

"…And that's how King Travis came to be in power." He paused and looked at the medieval-armored men guarding the throne room. "Excuse me, but I believe we have an appointment." The two glanced at each other, grunted, and swung open the double doors. Terra walked through, but when Isaac tried to follow, the sentinels crossed their spears in front of him. "Hey! Let me through!"

"Sir, we received strict orders to only let the Earth girl in. I'm sorry."

Terra looked at him sympathetically. "It's all right, Isaac. I'll be fine."

Isaac admitted defeat. "I know, I know. Go. Talk to the king. I'll be here when you're done." He watched Terra walk away until the royal guard shut the doors again.

Terra walked slowly into the throne room. It was a second hallway all to itself, with ornate golden symbols inlaid into the marble flooring and walls. At the end of the short hall was a huge desk made of a deep, equally carved wood. Behind the desk was a tall, golden chair, facing away from the entrance. Instead, the chair faced a colossal stained glass window, one that illuminated almost the entire room. Its cells seemed to depict a great battle- blue-clad troops were fighting crimson foes, aided by what could only be Tamaranians in the sky. To her sides, Terra could see thick marble columns lining the edge of the throne room. For a second, she thought she saw a hideous creature in the shadows of a column, red-robed, wearing a metal mask that bore a nearly demonic face. In the time it took for her to gasp, it was gone without a trace.

"Please, come closer." She looked at the chair, which was swiveling toward her. In the throne sat an older man, probably in his late forties, clad in a black suit and red tie. He had a mixture of white and iron-grey hair, and his general appearance looked more like a businessman, not a king. However, the slender yet wonderfully bejeweled crown on his head left no doubt. "My name is King Alexander Travis, and I am the seventy-fourth monarch of our wondrous nation, the Monarchy of Altania. It is an honor to be host to a dignitary of Markovia." Terra stopped where she was, eyes wide. "Yes, Princess Terra Markov, I am aware of your family history."

"How- how did you…?"

King Travis leaned forward in his chair, gazing intently at his guest. "I will explain all to you, but it is a long story." He motioned with a hand. "Perhaps you would like to sit?" Though Terra had seen no other seat when she entered, the ruler's pose suggested otherwise. When she looked behind her, a plush, cushioned chair was just a few feet away, and it definitely had _not_ been there when she walked in. She sat slowly.

"OK, King Travis, please tell me what this is all about."

"Very well." He coughed slightly. "About fifteen of your years ago, our nation sent agents of ours into your world. Their purpose was to determine if your world was ready to deal with foreign planets. However, one team, commanded by a James Warren, betrayed our people and disappeared, taking with them the technology and expertise that we had invested in them. Needless to say, this was an issue, but Warren was at the top of his game. In fact, he was chosen over your guardian agent, Isaac Johnson. It was very difficult for us to track him, but we managed to find him. But it was too late to avoid any damage."

"What does this have to do with me?"

"Warren's team supplied equipment and technical knowledge that was used in the experiments on you and your brother."

"So you're saying… I might not be like this if you hadn't screwed up?"

The king's face was grave. "I must apologize tenfold, Princess Markov, for our interference, intended or not, was the only thing that enabled the procedure. Had we not sent our agents to your world, some critical components for the experiments would have been unavailable, and you would both almost certainly be normal humans now."

"How could you let this happen? Where is this Warren guy now? You have to stop him!"

"A few days after your escape from the facility, you were attacked by a team attempting to recapture you, correct?"

Terra stared blankly at him, a little frightened. "Yeah…"

"The landslide you triggered killed Warren and most of the traitors with him. We were able to recover most of our stolen equipment afterward."

The girl shivered. As nice as these Altans seemed to be, they had a creepy talent for knowing _way_ too much about people. "So why drag me out here to talk to you? OK, you were the reason I got my powers. You saved me; can we call it even?"

A tiny smirk crossed the sovereign's face. "There is still more to tell. You know who the Gordanians are, I believe."

"Yeah, I think Starfire told me a little about them."

"Though he was never able to reap the benefits, Warren sent data of the experiments to the Gordanian people, no doubt hoping for wealth. The Gordanians are infamous in the galaxy for their own mutagenic projects, so naturally they were very interested to acquire the test's 'results'; that is, you and your brother, Geo-Force."

The girl stood up quickly. "There's an entire planet out to get us?!?"

"Not anymore." The monarch waved her back into her seat. "We have always been at war with the Gordanians, so we merely attacked and sent a landing force to destroy all records of the experiments. They no longer have the means or the will to hunt either of you."

Terra bowed her head briefly. "Thank you for everything you've done, King Travis. Still, why couldn't you just have Isaac or someone else tell me all this?"

Travis sighed. "What happened to you isn't right, whether it was voluntary or not. People should never be experimented on like that, regardless of how good the justification may be. I have done my best to stamp out such atrocities in my world and have brought retribution to the Gordanians for their own myriad crimes. Having some of my own men betray me- and then use my nation's supplies to foster these horrid tests! I could not stand idly by and allow you to suffer for our failures. I took it upon myself to tell you because you deserve answers from the source. That is all, Princess Markov."

"So, I'm free to go?"

"Yes, but tarry a moment longer." He reached into his suit. "What I am about to give you is on a strictly personal level. This has nothing to do with diplomatic relations." The king withdrew his hand, and he stood from his throne and approached Terra. "Please, take this." She accepted what he held- a coin-shaped object made of bluish metal, with a number of symbols embossed on its face. "That is the Royal Seal of Altania. Wherever you go, if you should ever need help, just show that symbol to an Altan and they will be at your disposal." Terra began to make some semblance of a curtsy, but King Travis stopped her and offered a hand instead, which she slowly shook. "Thank you for your time, Terra- best of luck to you on Earth."

"Thank you, King." She paused. "Can I tell Isaac about any of this?"

"He knows some of it, but not enough for that, I'm afraid. National secrets and all that."

Terra smiled at that. "I kinda figured. Thank you again, King Travis."

After about five minutes, Isaac was incredibly bored, so he decided to mess with the sentries.

"So, what do you two do all day?"

The older of the two looked at him with contempt. "We're doing it right now."

Isaac leaned against the wall. "Standing in front of a door?"

The younger guard began to lose his temper. "Our _job_ is to keep the riffraff away."

Isaac feigned injury. "Riffraff?!? That's just plain rude, mister doorman."

"Call me that one more time and I'll…"

The senior watchman beckoned the other's attention. "Don't let him get on your nerves."

The new sentinel lost his focus on Isaac. "What? He's toyed with you before?"

The man nodded. "Most people do when you make them stay out here. It just goes with the post."

"But that wasn't in the job description…"

"It never is. Do you think people would apply for this job if it involved that?"

The doors opened behind the sentries as Terra exited, but neither of them noticed. Isaac cleared his throat to get their attention, but it failed.

"Well, no, but I expect some honesty when they tell you what to expect! They said this was a dignified job!"

"You _are_ guarding the king's throne hall."

"But we're not exactly being treated like it! Look at him!" The younger guard motioned at Isaac, but did not notice a second _ahem_ from the agent. Terra looked at the guards, then at Isaac, who shrugged innocently.

"He's a high-ranking AIA agent. They're all that way. If he was from the Royal Militia, or most of the Admiralty, it would be different."

"A-HEM!" The guards stopped arguing and looked at Isaac, who pointed at Terra and the open doors. The two instantly quieted, reddened, and snapped to attention as they realized they had been dialoguing and not doing their original task.

Isaac leaned from the wall. "Terra, how was it?"

"Enlightening." Indeed, she did look a bit different, but Isaac couldn't quite place how. "Your king told me... some things I needed to know. He-"

One of the guards cleared his throat, almost as if in retaliation for Isaac's repeated throat-clearings. Terra dropped whatever she was about to say and simply said, "Sorry, Isaac, but he asked for total secrecy."

Isaac nodded. "That's understandable; Operation Sandstone itself is strictly covert." They began to walk down the hall. "I guess I'll just have to hear about it from the king himself." Before Terra could reply, Isaac's new comlink chirped. He switched it on and instantly winced at the volume of the holographic head's rants.

"JOHNSON!" The Senior Commander's half-bald head tried to loom over him. It was hard, considering the size of the hologram, but he attempted it nonetheless. Isaac sped up until he was several paces ahead of Terra.

Isaac knew what was coming. "Yes, sir?"

"I thought we trained you better! I've never seen more ineptness, not even in Operation Night Storm!" Isaac flinched at the mention of the mission his friend had been killed in. "You could have gotten yourself killed dozens of times, or heaven forbid, Terra! You let yourself get captured by pirates?"

"Sir, there were five of them and one-"

"I don't care how many there were! You've passed the GENESIS Riskbreaker test! Those involve odds twice as bad as that! Isaac, you disappoint me. Just be thankful that the king was as pleased to meet Terra as he was, or so help me I'd have you court-martialed for gross incompetence this second!"

Isaac bowed his head. "Yes, sir."

By now, Isaac's pace had slowed to a crawl, so Terra caught back up to him quickly. "What's up, Isaac?"

He turned toward her to respond, but before he could say anything the Senior Commander piped up again. "Don't you turn away from me, dimwit! I'm still not sure whether or not to court-martial you, but you're getting this at the very least. You're off the operation. I'm sending someone to take your place and transport Terra-"

Terra decided to use her apparent celebrity status and mimicked the man's attitude. "Hey! Over here!" The hologram swiveled, only now noticing Terra. "Yeah, I'm talking to you! What do you think you're doing to Isaac?"

The AIA chief frostily replied, "My duty."

She snorted. "There's no way you're telling me that chewing out my friend is your duty. Just back off, will you?"

Isaac tried to keep her from getting into trouble. "Terra, I can handle it."

Unfortunately, the hologram called her bluff. "Back off or what?"

She returned his gaze. "I'm the key evidence of a large illegal operation. I think going and blabbing it all to the public would ruin your day enough, wouldn't it?"

Both Isaac and the commander were silent for several moments as the magnitude of Terra's challenge sank in. Finally, the hologram replied through clenched teeth, several veins noticeably bulging. Clearly, he was not used to being given orders by someone of lesser rank, let alone a civilian child. "Isaac will not be punished _yet_, then, but you have not yet seen the last of me, Terra Markov." He disappeared.

Terra replied to the empty space, "I wouldn't have it any other way." She then calmly said to Isaac, "So, since Grayfire's tied up, what are we going back to Earth on?"

Deciding not to question Terra's threat, he shook his head. "To be honest, I don't know. I'll have to check." Isaac, still a bit shaken from being accosted by his superior in such an uncharacteristic manner, and his friend's disrespectful response to it, dialed in the Admiralty's code as they entered a turbolift.

A familiar hologram answered. "Admiralty Central Command. How may I be of assistance?" It stopped and looked over the caller. "Johnson, it's you again, sir? Let me guess, you need transport back to Earth, sir."

"That's about correct, Lieutenant."

The officer sighed. "Let's see… not much free right now, sir; a lot of ships are tied up looking into some Gordanian activity… but it looks like the escort vessel _Phrygius_ has been assigned to the Solar System to scout around for a good spaceyard spot."

Isaac frowned. "Scout around for a good spaceyard spot?"

"Altecorps Engineering's been constructing a new orbital spaceyard, _Delphinae_. They want to put it somewhere in the Solar System, so we're doing some free recon for them."

The turbolift door slid open, but Isaac was too busy talking to notice. "How low the mighty have fallen if the Admiralty doesn't have anything better to do than to wander around, no charge, for a private company."

The man looked a little offended. "Well, sir, regardless, it's leaving in about three hours from the Intergalactic Spaceport in Modellsia."

Terra gave a mock sigh. "Don't you Altans _ever_ just take a day off? Or eat, or…"

The holographic image gave an unmistakable grin. "Sometimes we'd like to, but when duty calls, well… duty calls. Lieutenant Sanders out."

As Isaac switched off his comlink, Terra tried to remember where the spaceport was located. "The Intergalactic Spaceport isn't too far a ride, right?"

"The planetary part isn't, at least. The rest of the port is in orbit, and that's where _Phrygius_ will be. We'd better get going." They began walking toward the castle's exit, but Isaac felt he had to say something else. "About the Senior Commander… thanks. I think."

Terra stopped and put a hand on his shoulder. "I know you feel bad for being wrong about Slade and having to keep secrets from me." She paused for a moment and looked away. "…It's OK. Come on; let's get to the ship before it leaves us here."


	11. Chapter Ten

CHAPTER TEN

Three hours later, Isaac and Terra were safely aboard the bridge of the starcraft _Phrygius_. The ship had already left port and was streaking through the space lanes, its hyperdrive at maximum capacity. They looked toward the bridge's rear as one of the crew called out, "Captain on the bridge!" A four-foot-tall being resembling a blend between a human and a housecat entered. It was a Caltan, of the few remaining creatures native to Altania. He was mostly humanlike, but had paws instead of hands or feet, a tail, and cat's ears protruding through the top of his red hair. Fingerlike claws extended from his front paws to make up for the lack of actual digits. The alien was clothed in what was unmistakably an Admiralty uniform, decorated with a modest number of medals; he was undoubtedly a veteran of the Second Great War.

The Caltan approached Terra, who was visibly amazed by the alien. "Captain Perry at your service, miss." He shook her hand gently, then shook Isaac's hand with the same cordiality. "You two are really out for the long haul, aren't you, sir? Altania to Earth is a pretty long shot for just a goodwill mission." He eyed Terra's outfit. "Seems like I've seen you somewhere before… ah well, doesn't matter." Perry then realized Terra's expression. "What's the issue, cat got your tongue?"

Isaac explained, "She's never seen a Caltan before." He leaned closer to the officer and muttered, "Earther."

"Oh, that's why. Very well, I'll introduce my kind." The captain turned his attention back toward Terra. "I am one of the two _indigenous_ intelligent species on Altania, a Caltan. We're mostly identical to humans, but we're shorter than most species, as you can see, have superior eyesight, hearing, and intellect, and best of all, have claws in our front paws that give us the same dexterity as hands. However, I will admit that we do still possess some of the traits of our likely ancestors."

Isaac whispered to Terra, "Catnip, yarn, and mice." She grinned broadly while Perry's ears twitched.

The captain gave a half-smirk. "I _do_ have feline ears, Johnson. But, for better or worse, that is true. We are, with some exceptions, infatuated by catnip and yarn, and as for mice…"

Before he could finish his sentence, one of the bridge crew called out, "Captain! I'm picking up seven unidentified vessels entering our hyperdrive lane ahead!"

Perry darted to his command station with true catlike agility. "Helmsman, bring us out of hyperspace and engage standard engines. We can't afford to break this bird."

The navigator beckoned to the captain as the blurred lines of stars slowed into normal speed, returning the stars to their mottled appearance. "We're being hailed by one of the larger ships, sir."

"Put it on the main holoscreen." The navigator did, and Isaac and Terra were shocked to see a familiar face appear. It was none other than the pirate captain who had taken them hostage earlier. Perry noted their surprise. "What, you know this loon?"

The pirate chuckled slightly. "I would be surprised if they didn't." Suddenly, the humor vanished. "You two cost me one of my best ships, so now this is personal! I don't care what Psylence wants, you two are going to pay for the loss of my flagship! This time, I brought reinforcements. Say hello to my friends- a group of rogues and blackguards I gathered together from the blackest corners of the cosmos." The face disappeared and was replaced with an image of the pirate flotilla. Every ship in the fleet was at least eight times the size of the 300-foot-long vessel Isaac and Terra were on.

Captain Perry was grim. "Seven pirate ships, plus whatever snubfighters they have inside, against _Phrygius_. We've got twenty guns on this ship, but that's not near enough. We can't safely go to hyperspace with all of these guys in our flight route either. What to do, what to do…" The starcraft shuddered slightly as a small, suicidally overeager fighter traced a line of laser fire down its spine. "Well, for now, man the guns! Open fire on these brigands! And send a distress beacon back to the homeworld, double time!" His ship's own turbolasers responded to the lesser craft, and before very long the small vessel exploded. Unfortunately, there were many more fighters, and the seven other ships were definitely not fighters. They were battleships, and they were approaching very rapidly. Any one of them possessed the firepower to obliterate the _Phrygius_ in one swift broadside.

Abruptly, yet another gunship warped into existence, but this one was _huge_, even beside the pirate ships. Before anyone could question its allegiance, the behemoth's three midline turrets swiveled and put a full broadside into the core structure of a pirate battleship. Before the brigand had time to respond to the new threat or even raise its shields, it lost structural integrity as its power system, likely a bank of nuclear reactors, detonated with the force of many atom bombs. Unable to fire a single shot, the titan shattered into dozens of smaller remains. Several of the fragments impacted on the victim's neighbors, damaging their engines and superstructures. Another volley lanced out at the raider's vessels, but by now the gang had gotten their shields up, and the shots were absorbed- barely.

"Captain, we are being hailed by vessel ASV _Conquistador_!"

Perry hesitated from surprise. "…Onscreen."

Master Mariner Grayfire's head appeared above the hologram projector, looking abnormally gloomy. "Terra, Isaac, good to see you as always. Captain Perry, sir, how's your ship doing?"

"Eh, she'll hold. We only got scratched a bit by a snubfighter. Master Mariner, sir, do you think you can you clear out our lane?"

"No problem at all, Captain." Grayfire left range of the projector for a moment to give commands to the crew. _Conquistador_'s strategy changed, instead trying to push the suddenly threatened pirates back with a combination of turbolasers and the hazard of ramming- the ship was a couple hundred feet shy of a mile and a half long and eclipsed most of the pirate ships by about three times. In moments the six remaining ships had fallen back and were out of the way, focusing all of their firepower on the young officer's vessel. Grayfire returned to the hologram. "I think that should do it for you, sir. Go ahead and get out of here, I can handle the rest of these for now."

The lights flickered on a second battleship as its shields failed, and it seemed to Perry that he was right. "Very well, Master Mariner. Thanks for the assist. You take care of yourself, alright, kid?"

Grayfire nodded. "Aye-aye, Captain. Grayfire out."

As Grayfire's image disappeared, Perry signaled to the helmsman to engage hyperdrive. He did so, and the deep-space combat was far behind them in seconds. Relieved by the escape, Perry sighed and turned toward his 'cargo'. "Sometimes I wonder about that boy, taking on seven battleships by himself. It's a wonder he didn't get himself killed in the Second Great War."

Isaac replied, "Without him, though, that war would have been a lot tougher. If he hadn't been there at the Battle of Red Dawn…"

"I know, I know, we would have lost the static cannon prototypes, and we'd probably still be at war with the Xorda today, if they hadn't consumed the planet by then." While Isaac and Perry were reminiscing, Terra looked on with a mixture of curiosity and confusion. "That was odd, though; the Xorda were never the type to recognize a technological threat."


	12. Chapter Eleven

CHAPTER ELEVEN

An hour later, _Phrygius_ was in orbit around Earth. There was a much larger amount of vessels here compared to the half-dozen present after First Contact; at least twenty ships were milling about around the edge of the planet's atmosphere. Terra was the first to comment.

"So, can we start expecting your people to hover around like this?"

Isaac shrugged. "It depends. If we can manage trade agreements with your nations, we'll likely be here often, yes. If not, we'll probably just back off. It all depends on King Travis' orders."

Perry's communications officer kept him from continuing. "Captain, I'm receiving a Priority One transmission from the medical starcraft _Shield of Mercy_ direct for Tactical Officer Johnson. Information is non-classified."

"It's not critical, then. Put it onscreen," Isaac said.

Another Caltan, this one a female bearing peculiar resemblance to a Persian cat, appeared on the viewscreen. "Greetings, Tactical Officer. I trust you are well?"

"Been better, been worse. What's your message?"

"It is regarding the crew of _Caesar_." Isaac was silent as he remembered the loss of that vessel- another painful failure. "We have recovered three crew members who survived the ordeal- one pilot, one field agent, and the ship's gunner."

Isaac was shocked- in a good way- to hear this. "Survived! How is this possible?"

The Caltan looked bothered, as if she was used to having all the answers. "We are not fully certain at the time. We only called to inform you, seeing as you and Terra were, prior, the sole survivors."

"Thank you, ma'am; I'll be sure to visit them when I return. Tactical Officer Johnson out."

While the medical officer disappeared from the viewscreen, Captain Perry jerked a paw toward the back of the vessel. "Your transport pod is all set up. You might as well head back there; we'll drop you as close to Titans Tower as we can without hitting it."

Terra seemed to have a better idea. "Actually, I think I promised Isaac that I'd take him to Ben's Diner, so could you drop us near that instead?"

Perry checked a land chart. "There's a large amount of sand there. It might clog the fanjet filters a little, but I see no problem with that, we're phasing out fanjet tech anyway. Sure, go ahead; the Titans aren't going anywhere, especially not with all the other Altans buzzing around and keeping them busy." Isaac and Terra entered the pod, buckled their harnesses, and prepared for yet another re-entry.

The two stood at the entrance to Ben's Diner, a mere thirty minutes after departing the _Phrygius_. Isaac surveyed the lack of surroundings. "Well, I'd call this an out-of-the-way establishment."

"That's why I like it. It's low-profile." She opened the door, and Isaac walked in. A group of four bikers loitered in one corner of the room, while a few less grungy patrons sat at stools alongside the bar. One of the bikers glanced over Isaac, who was wearing his Altan commando uniform, then muttered something to the other bikers. The AIA agent noticed a change in the restaurant's atmosphere as Terra led him to the stools, where they both took a seat. After conversing with the waitress, who apparently knew Terra quite well, Terra ordered "the usual", and Isaac followed suit. He then noticed a tap on his shoulder and wheeled around to see all four bikers behind him, led by the one who had first seen him.

"Ah don't think I've seen you 'round here, mister. You wouldn't 'appen to be one o' those extra-terrestrials, now, would 'ya?" He then looked closer at Isaac's uniform, which (unfortunately for him) had some Altan script written on it. "Don' answer that. Now, we don't like yer kind in these parts, so you got 'till the count of five to get out of here. One…" Isaac couldn't help smirking inwardly. These guys would be nothing compared to what he had trained against at home.

"Two…" Isaac rolled his eyes and stood up, not noticing Terra doing the same.

"FIVE!!" The lead biker charged Isaac and was met with empty air, missing outright and plunging over the counter. While the man picked himself off of the floor, Isaac warded off blows from his companions, pausing to flip a second man over his shoulder and on top of the leader. He shoved a third one away, then heard a noise behind him. Spinning to meet the new threat, he saw the fourth biker, who looked undoubtedly dazed. The man collapsed unconscious to the floor, revealing Terra behind him, who clutched one of the chairs in her hands. Isaac smirked. "I had it handled."

She returned the grin. "That's not what it looked like." Her gaze shifted behind Isaac to the third biker, who had recovered from Isaac's shove. "Duck!" Isaac's head dove down just as the biker launched a left hook at it. Terra hurled the seat at the remaining foe, striking him full in the face. He staggered back, stunned. Isaac approached the gang's leader while Terra kept an eye out for trickery from the others.

"So, sir, do you have any further complaints about Altans? I would be glad to… _discuss_… them." The leader groaned and remained on the floor. Isaac approached the waitress, who was clearly surprised by the brawl- and its brevity. "Uh… sorry for the mess… here, let me reimburse you for it."

She held up a hand. "That's alright, hon. That gang's been scaring off all the regular customers; you guys did us a favor in setting them straight. Well, here's your desserts, on the house. The name's Pam, by the way." She handed Isaac and Terra each a plate of pie with a hearty scoop of ice cream beside it. "I'm glad you found a good bodyguard, Terra- especially with all this funny business going on right now."

Terra frowned. "What sort of stuff, Pam?"

"Oh, just the usual stuff. Robots trashing downtown, supervillains attacking the coast… more whispers and rumors, in my opinion. But then, the Teen Titans've had their share of battles, so as long as the fighting isn't here, I'm happy. Nice seeing you, Terra." Pam left to attend another customer.

Isaac, trained as he was, was still getting the hang of Earth terms. "So, this dish is called… yoghurt?"

Terra smiled. "No, it's apple pie with vanilla ice cream." She pointed at each one with her spoon as she named it. "And it's really good, despite what you might hear about its cousin cheesecake."

"Is there actually cheese in it, or is it just an expression? Ah, never mind, it's not worth explaining." Isaac decided to just stop commenting and start eating.

Several minutes later, Isaac's plate was clean, and only his training stopped him from licking it. "A filling meal, to say the least. I wonder why, if we were able to acquire your kind's TV dinners, we did not learn of food like this! I don't think even icefruit quite matches up to it." He sighed. "But, I suppose I should be-" Isaac paused as he heard the distinct chime of his comlink ringing. He set it on the table so Terra could listen and join in the conversation. The hologram then sputtered into existence, forming a young man's head. He had close-cropped black hair and an earnest face, but something in his expression indicated that something very wrong was happening to him.

"ASV _Conquistador_, Acting Captain Jonathan Sorran calling. I have a highly classified message for Isaac Johnson and Terra Markov."

Terra blinked. "Who are you, and why are you commanding the _Conquistador_?" Isaac nodded in agreement.

Sorran's expression became distant for a moment. "I am Garrison Commander Jonathan Sorran, official rank of lieutenant commander, former lieutenant to Commander Moonfire. Master Mariner Grayfire and the remainder of the bridge crew were… injured… during the engagement of pirate forces. Three of the bridge crew were lost, and the others must spend a week or two in sick bay until the full extent of the damage is apparent. It was really a matter of bad luck- the battleships wore through our shields with a barrage of laser fire, then slipped a quantum torpedo through while our shields were readjusting. Thankfully, the hull armor absorbed most of the blast, but the bridge was heavily damaged and exposed to vacuum until the emergency bulkheads sealed. We're operating from Engineering right now." His tone was professional, but a hint of distress seeped through, and something else the AIA agent couldn't quite pin.

Isaac was solemn. "I'm sorry to hear that. Was Moonfire injured also? She should have been next in the chain of command."

"Commander Moonfire transferred from ASV _Conquistador_ to the ASV _Fer-de-Lance_ prior to the incident. Official citation was Regulation seven-oh-two, stating irreconcilable differences between garrison commander and commanding officer." The substitute's voice dropped several notches. "Unofficially, they broke up, from what I hear. It must've been nasty, too, because Grayfire was in a dreadful mood until the accident. I will personally attest, however, that his command ability was not diminished in the slightest."

"I see. That's… unexpected." Isaac had heard no signs of trouble for the two, but that was the shortcoming of _hearing_ everything. However, it explained Grayfire's prior demeanor. "Acting Captain Sorran, what is your message?"

"I apologize; I distracted myself from my charge. There's someone coming down to you who wishes to talk to both of you. He gave critical orders that you stay put and most of all stay away from the Teen Titans until he arrives."

"Who is this person, and when can we expect him?"

"Between the damage and the chaos in the garrison, I was unable to deliver the message on time. In truth, I believe you can expect him…" There was a loud bang as the doors to the diner flew open. His eyes darted toward the source. "…right about now, by the sound of it. Sorran out." The human's head vanished as Isaac and Terra surveyed the newcomer. He was a younger man, with jet-black hair and turquoise eyes, and extraordinarily tall- in fact, he had to bend over to fit through the door. He was wearing a purple cloak and a suit of gold-trimmed black armor. Each of his cheeks had a yellow band painted on it, and most notable of all, his ears tapered to a sharp point. It was none other than the famed Altan hero, Lord Raphael himself.


End file.
